Poetical Poltergeist
Precise and cold hearted
Dope movie. And the soundtrack was piff. Might be favorite of the year.
Ok, I’m gonna put my review in spoilers but before I do:
Regina King is so damn beautiful. I loved her when I first saw her in Poetic Justice. Everyone was crushing on Janet (and rightfully so) but Regina’s smooth skin and eyes.
Lakeith Stanfield: breh stole the show. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in a whack role. Cherokee Bill needs a spin off ACE-fukking-SAP!
Review:
Overall… a solid 8.5/10…. Had to Knock off points for some of the casting, the bloated length of the film and the music. But I really really enjoyed. Would recommend to all.I watched this movie twice in the same day, and that’s rare because I usually get fatigued from watching movies, especially in the same day but this one had so many gems it, it warranted a repeat.
The casting was black excellence at its finest. I can understand why people were a bit pissed off at Stage Coach Mary being portrayed by a biracial actress because again, why couldn’t a black/dark skinned woman play the love interest? So I can see where shea butter Twitter is coming from but she did her thing.
As I stated earlier, Lakeith just bodied his role. I knew it was coming but I was severely upset when he died. I was hoping he would’ve got away setting up a sequel but he had it coming. I think he would’ve been more brooding as Rufus but it made sense to cast Idris as he had the build and imposing figure.
As for Rufus… meh. I like Idris but he didn’t really have me fearing him in the movie. I felt like he was trying to hard to be quietly menacing but he ended up getting outshined by his co-stars. Did a decent job but his role as a villain was forgettable.
Trudy aka Regina King was truly menacing. Her monologue about her sister Hope was gripping. She has this underlying crazy which made her character come to life. She and Lakeith played off so well against each other. Can’t wait to see her in the sequel (if they make one).
Deon Cole really surprised me. I thought he was just going to be comedic relief, especially since the first scene displayed as much but he ended up being a sympathetic character. I felt bad for him when Rufus knocked the gold out of his teeth but redeemed himself at the end.
Onto the good guys.
The stand out for me was Cathay. Wow. I didn’t expect much from her initially but her character grew on me. Loved her in the bank robbery scene and of course at the end. I was worried Hollywood was up to their old “hide the sausage” agenda but I’m glad that wasn’t the case with her. One of the stand out roles, look forward to seeing more from her.
Jonathan Majors was good but not great. I don’t blame him too much, I just felt he wasn’t convincing as the leading man hero in this. No disrespect, he still did his thing but maybe it’s his look (). Him and Stage Coach Mary didn’t have that much chemistry on screen together… at least to me. And someone said earlier, when he was getting his body used as a punching bag, he didn’t really sell it to me well. But hey, a decent performance.
Delroy Lindo has always be a fav of mine since Malcolm X and he showed it again why in this film as the sheriff. that’s the thing with veteran actors like him, they know how to be nuanced in their performances without trying. He was a good “sidekick” to Nat Love.
I was upset with how they did Beckworth but it had to be done to make us hate Cherokee Bill. Up until that point, he was a likeable villain, but after that, I’m sure all of us hated him. He provided some good comic relief.
My issues with the film are two things mainly.
1. It started off very well but I had a feeling the momentum would drop off somewhere. At over two hours, it did feel a bit bloated and it dragged on a bit towards the end.
2. the music… although I liked it, it did feel like an anachronism at certain points. It’s just a minor peeve. I guess it complimented the comedic/campy nature of the film at points… but a classical composition wouldn’t have hurt this movie either.
Never saw it that way. Excellent point.It makes sense for the time, it’s post slavery and she was light/mixed which would give her more opportunities to open up legitimate businesses like she was doing vs being like a Trudy
That "I'm sweet" is going to be a meme eventuallyMy ass is getting shot at