Blackbird (2014)
Seventeen-year-old Randy tries very hard to be a good person. Since his father left, Randy takes care of his emotionally disturbed mother, and he's the kind of friend all of his classmates can depend on. As strong as he seems on the outside, Randy is hiding a secret inner struggle and denial of his true self. It's not until he opens himself up to love that he discovers that becoming a man means accepting who you really are.
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Wonderfully offbeat film!
An action-packed slog
It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.
The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.
Bri-li-ant!I am so happy to see this movie! I am not very surprised to see it got only 5.5 as I learned not to take seriously IMDb's ratings. Indeed, a lot of people who rate on IMDb seem to love action movies with a lot of special effects. I almost never watch these kind of movies. Also people are so conditioned to watch a certain kind of screening, they're not used to diversity. The kind of grain, the kind of music, the kind of angle, all these things are quite the same in box-office movies. But here you have something different, something real. I love in this movie how there are so many moments without music, where you can be with the people as they think as they feel. I love that there was no brighty shiny filter on this movie, so when you see people in their home, it feels like you see your own home, when you see an hospital entrance, it feels like you're seeing an hospital entrance from where you really live. I love that Isaiah is back to say once again that he was not against T R Knight and to show that in this business it's really better to be White than Black, because when you are White you can get away with saying worse things than what a Black person might say. I love that Mo'nique is such a phenomenal actress who made me feel really that she lost someone and couldn't get on with life without that someone and I love that she respects herself so much that she did this indie movie rather than sell her soul to the business. I love that this movie talked about the great John Cassavetes. That man did some of the movies I love the most. Maybe those I respect the most as real deep intelligent films. I sobbed so much during that film and at the end of it I was a mess! I did not love the beginning titles. I did not love the sun shadows as mom and son were singing together. But that is what is genius with a true movie. It's not perfect. It does not have to be perfect. Because the looks are less important than the message. And the message here is BIG. I really encourage you to see this movie, get past average commercial movies. This movie dares. This movie touches. This movie knows what Love IS.
And a big part of why I couldn't like it was how poor the acting was. Every single actor. Not a good acting job in the whole movie. It was all so...stilted. I wish I could explain what I am saying. I mean BAD! Truly some of the worst I've ever seen. The cinematography was great. Really first rate. Sets were good. Costumes good. Soundtrack only one step down from great. But that acting! It was either over the top, or not near enough. Never once did the characters make me believe they were real. Randy, the man character, was terrible. I mean really, really bad. I don't even think it was the directing. I don't think he could be good. I feel bad saying this—but he really was terrible (I hope he doesn't read this). Marshall, a possible love interest for the hero, was almost there—but they made him use a very fake southern accent that just ruined it. Especially when he kept forgetting to use it and because no one else had an accent. So why him?POSSIBLE spoiler here...There was also this ridiculous sequence of wet dreams where Randy was constantly having to wash his sheets the next morning. But he was wearing flannel boxers, so I can't figure out how he was messing up the sheets. One scene he was fully dressed and woke up and had to change the sheets—even though he didn't have to change his pants!There was a lot more that made no sense. The hero's little sister vanished six years before and he ties yellow ribbons on branches in his tree to remember her. But he gets the ribbons from a paper box in the garden that somehow has magickally stayed brand new and white. Does it not rain where this movie took place? Or one character gets an STD and asks Randy to look at his penis, right in the front yard of his house. They wouldn't at least step around back?I checked this site thinking it would be filled with reviews that slammed this picture and I was shocked at the high, high ratings. I feel bad about saying this, but I am betting they are either fake or are written by relatives and friends of the stars. One person said, "There are a few scenes that are definitely a tear jerker!" Did we see two different movies? I got to the end without seeing a single tear-jerker scene. The acting was so poor I never believed in the characters, couldn't get emotionally invested in them, and therefore be effected by anything that might have been tear-worthy.Was it the script? Maybe. It is hard to tell. I don't know if the movie would have been any better with actors with above freshman in high school acting abilities had gotten a chance to play the parts.Poor, poor movie.
There are a few scenes that are definitely a tear jerker! Not only was the acting very good, but the humor in it leveled the sad parts. I will not tell you details about the movie because I highly recommend you to watch it. If you like chocolate shawty's then Torrey is definitely a chocolate drop and his body is on point. This film tells a great message that folks today are definitely dealing with. Mo'Nique is such an underrated actress. She's really good when given the opportunity to showcase it. This film, much like Precious, really shows her serious side, although we do love her funny side, there's always more than one side to a person.
This has got to be one of the most boring films of all time. It's bad enough to beat a dead horse in a movie. But this just beats on three dead horses. Don't waste your time with it. There's really only so many times you can do a movie about a particular subject before it's already been done to death. This movie take three different subjects that we have known about and continues to just over do it. On all accounts. IF you can make it to the end you'll be asking yourself "Really? Another movie about that?" Save your time. Save your insanity. Just go to the local mall and sit there for about an hour. It's cheaper and more entertaining.