If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

This was the second of a double-feature for us and it's tempting to blame my tepid response on the fact that we'd already been sitting in a dark theater for a couple of hours before this started, but I don't believe that's the case at all. This movie just squandered all of the goodwill that I brought to it.

It starts out strong: we see a loving family rally around their daughter finding out she's expecting a child with her incarcerated love. We watch as they put aside the temptation to express dismay and instead choose to encourage and support her, even as the other family in the equation behaves poorly.

But then the storytelling slows to a crawl. Not the story, mind you: the telling of the story. I'm patient & love a long shot when there's something to ponder or see or absorb, but these shots never felt like they were doing anything other than waiting. After a while, it started to feel like a waste of time, which was a short jump to pissing me off.

C-