REVIEW: If Beale Street Could Talk goes with style over substance and loses its way

If Beale Street Could Talk goes with style over substance and loses its way for Moonlight director Barry Jenkins. A committed cast deserved better than what they got.

Immaculately shot and uncannily well-acted, If Beale Street Could Talk delicately and solemnly celebrates a deep and lasting love shared by two young soulmates.

There is just one problem. The movie itself has no soul whatsoever.

The self-conscious sense of style that writer-director Barry Jenkins applies to the James Baldwin novel of the same name all but smothers its substance.

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A scene from If Beale Street Could Talk.

Jenkins is coming off a Best Picture Oscar win for his last movie, Moonlight, and the pressure to match that beautiful and haunting movie has obviously blunted the filmmaker’s sharper instincts.

There is too much here that is smooth, polished and glowing. The film is set in Harlem in the early 1970s, one of the rougher ‘hoods of New York City, which at the time was not renowned for its good looks and mood lighting.

A scene from If Beale Street Could Talk.

What averts a complete slide into prestige-movie mediocrity is the on-point acting of a strong African-American ensemble.

Leading from the front is Stephan James as Fonny, a conscientious young woodworker who has been thrown into jail, accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his neighbourhood.

Already facing what could be a life sentence for a crime he most certainly did not commit — his only crime was to be black and out in the open when the cops were looking for a perp — Fonny is then hit with more bad news.

His accuser has disappeared back to her home in Puerto Rico, leaving his case in a dangerous state of limbo.

A scene from If Beale Street Could Talk.

All that Fonny has going for him in terms of beating this bleak rap is the unyielding support of Tish (KiKi Layne), a devoted girlfriend who is also carrying their unborn child.

Meanwhile, all that Tish has going for her is the unconditional belief and sympathy of her mother, Sharon (an Oscar-nominated Regina King), a woman determined to stop the coming injustice if it is the last thing she ever does.

While not one single performance in If Beale Street Could Talk can be faulted, the movie often seems disconnected from a story that has clearly unified and inspired its actors.

IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (MA15+)

Rating: Two and a half stars (2.5 out of 5)

Director: Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)

Starring: Stephan James, KiKi Layne, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Brian Tyree Henry.

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