by A.J
Best Pictures #107: 2024 (97th) Academy Awards Best Picture Nominee:
"This is just one place. There are Nickels all over this country."
It is not necessarily a bad sign for a movie to have a gimmick, whether it is being done in one take (Aleksandr Sokurov’ Russian Ark), or only seeming to be one take (Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu’s Birdman), or being shot over time as the actors age (Richard Linklakter’s Boyhood). The gimmick of Nickel Boys, based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead, is that the film is shot entirely from the first person point of view of both of its main characters. I'm not sure that the dual POV enhances the experience or substance of the movie but it at least does no harm. Thankfully there is more, much more, to Nickel Boys than its gimmick.
Set in the Jim Crow Florida of the 1960s, the story follows Elwood from his early childhood with his adoring and caring grandmother played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor to him being a teenager (Ethan Herisse) given the opportunity to attend college classes at a technical school. He just needs a way to get there and unfortunately hitches a ride from a stranger in a flashy stolen car and Elwood’s future goes from bright to bleak. Instead of prison Elwood is sent to the Nickel Academy. On the surface it is a reform school and home; it certainly seems that way looking at the boys on the white side who are pretty happy playing football, but things are different on the segregated black side which more resembles a work camp or prison than a school. Elwood befriends Turner (Brandon Wilson) who has been at Nickel longer and has a hardened, cynical, if not realistic, outlook while Elwood retains a sense of social justice.
Director RaMell Ross, in his confident and impressive feature film debut, has a great sense for effective storytelling, especially in knowing what of the abuses to show, what to hold back, and what to imply. It is a wise choice to present the Nickel as an insidious thing because it lures us into the false sense of security that many of its “students” surely felt. When Elwood and Turner overhear the Nickel headmaster (Hamish Linklater) ask a student to take a dive in the boxing match we know that only bad things will happen. Flashforwards show an adult Elwood (Daveed Diggs) reading news stories about graves and bodies being uncovered on the grounds of the since closed academy. More affecting than any depiction of abuse or violence is a flashforward of Elwood meeting another Nickel survivor, Chickie Pete (Craig Tate), at a bar. Their session of “remember when” turns dark and terrible when Pete recalls the abuse he and others ensured. It is a brief but moving performance by Tate and Ross knows this is all we need to understand what the Nickel boys endured and survived.
Perhaps even more than the difficult subject matter, the dual point of view perspectives might be the most difficult barrier to entry for audiences. Other movies shot from a first person point of view have certainly given me headaches and confusion. However, here Ross and cinematographer Jomo Fray use a delicate touch and after the opening sequence of Elwood's childhood the cinematography finds a nice rhythm and is easy to follow. The shifts between Elwood and Turner are easy to keep track of for the most part. Scenes of them talking to each other end up being no different from conventional shot-reverse-shot camera work. The flashforwards have the camera behind a character's head and some confusion may ensue but astute viewers may pick up on Ross's decision for this new perspective. Another shot of the grandmother remains confusing–whose perspective was that?
Nickel Boys is an arthouse film I suppose, even so it remains accessible and moving while conveying the horrors and trauma endured by black youths at such "schools" (Nickel Academy itself may be fictitious but it is based on very real counterparts). There are interstitial moments that I can only assume are in the imaginations of the characters based on bits of news they hear (these serve to let the audience know the passage of time). Still, the impression I got was that Ross is less concerned with impressing audiences than telling a story in an affecting way. The human story is strong and does not become lost in the method, but I have a feeling that Nickel Boys is more likely to be remembered and studied for its cinematic techniques and experimental approach. Nevertheless, this film has stayed on my mind while other 2024 Best Picture nominees have not.
Nominees: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Joslyn Barnes, Producers
Director: RaMell Ross
Screenplay: RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes; based on The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Cast: Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor
Production Companies: Orion Pictures, Plan B Entertainment, Anonymous Content, Louverture Films
Distributor: Amazon MGM Studios
Release Date: December 13th, 2024
Total Nominations: 2, including Best Picture
Other Nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay-RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
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