Middle of Nowhere

Enjoyed the work. It was engaging, sad, poignant, deep, and delved into many facets in the web of relationships. I don't understand and likely won't why an accomplished, beautiful, young, intelligent, caring, kind person could allow themselves to be so completely consumed with a situation so dysfunctional. And not just dysfunctional, but a situation which could have derailed their life or even resulted in death by law enforcement. Fortunately, they didn't lose themselves completely and were able to lift up from the despair. It's one thing to love and support our incarcerated loved ones, it's another thing to totally subjugate our lives to the situation. This film is a powerful portrayal of choices.

I'm always really happy to see films directed by African American women, period. It's so hard to get a budget, so hard to make it happen, and so few sistas writing and directing feature length narrative films, I make a point to support. When Ava DuVernay won the Best Director award 2012's Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere, I was really overjoyed, and excited to see the film. Especially since the film covers a subject I'm very passionate about, incarceration of African American men. I was also excited to see that David Oyewolo was cast to play "Brian," as I consider him one of the greatest actors in Hollywood; the Sidney Poitier of his generation. And wow, the lead played by Emayatzy Corinealdi was a real treat to see her work, she's beautiful and has chops! Add one of the most talented up and coming Directors of Photography, Bradford Young to the equation and yooooooooo! So, I'm all the way in... and yeah... I find myself in the middle of nowhere. I want to feel more, the actors are good... and the film is kind of muted, seems to be mostly shot in natural light, lots of shadows, brooding. No commentary on prison industrial complex, this film is about relationships, in a vacuum. But I want to talk about brothers being incarcerated and an exponentially greater margin for the same crimes committed by white males, but... yeah... no, not this film. So, I got over that, and rode the film for what it is, a look at a difficult time in a woman's life, who had really invested a lot in her relationship with her incarcerated husband. You know what I dug though, we get to see folks who are living on the margins in L.A., like they don't cars and have to take the bus, folks are struggling... like in reality out there. And I really respect DuVernay for letting her characters be struggling financially, which is in itself actually revolutionary for most films that have to do with Black characters in Hollywood these days... it's like it's daring to not be corporate lawyers, athletes, marketing tycoons or whatever. Yeah, I want to see a story about a bus driver, an nurse and an incarcerated brother, here played by Omari Hardwick. So why do I feel, like I want to like this film more than I actually did when I left the theater. Is it because it didn't offer a Hollywood ending for me? Nooooo, that can't be it!!!! Definitely worth seeing, but wasn't really the film I had got so hyped to see.

Desperately searching indie sites to find something to watch. Idie Wire had Emayatzy Corinealdi's performance as one of the best in the decade and I had not seen the film so I watched it. Her performance is perfect, can't wait to see her other stuff. I loved this movie because it is a true love story. As the years pass while she waits for her husband to get out of jail she grows in the best of ways. She sees her part in how she got into the situation. The repeated scenes where she imagines being in bed with or walking hand and hand with her incarcerated husband really struck home. Not because I have had an incarcerated love but because sometimes intense love continues even when it is over. This movie touched my heart. I have not seen another movie that nailed that feeling inside that I have about my past great love. It must be a hard thing to do in a movie since I have not seen any other film maker get it right until now.

It's possible to tell a story about the so-called negative aspects of a culture without belittling the group or individuals involved. This is something directors, particularly of African descent, seem to be lacking, imo. In other words, if there's no brutality depicted , then it's "not capturing the rawness of reality" ...Ms DuVernay defies this false notion and I've noticed she has been stealthily doing so for quite a while now. I would be proud to call her my daughter, sister, or partner if I had such a relationship with her. unfortunately, I'll just have to settle for a proud, admiring fan. The lesson here: It's all about humanizing the characters, not trashing their existence, Well done!.

I enjoyed this movie. The characters were complex and true to life. You can see yourself, your family, friends, etc. In each character. We are complicated and have many layers.