Nickel Boys

The Oscars are tomorrow, but I haven’t seen all of the Best Picture nominees.

That exception is I’m Still Here, which still hasn’t shown up on streaming, and will only play in a theatre near me next weekend. It most likely won’t win Best Picture, but it’s still in the running for Best International Feature and Best Actress; that might be three categories whose winners I’ll have missed.

I’ll just get to the last of the nominees I can get to. Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys, just premiered on MGM Plus yesterday. Let’s finally see how it is.

It's 1966 in Tallahassee. Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) is a studious young man raised by his grandma, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). His future seems bright after his teacher, Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails) gets him a free spot at a major study program. Unfortunately, he accidentally hitches a ride with a car thief and is arrested as an accomplice. He's sentenced to Nickel Academy, a reform school modeled after the real-life Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Elwood, and his fellow Black students, are used by the staff for slave labor, while their actual education leaves a lot to be desired. They'll even punish students for getting bullied!

Elwood, an avid follower of Martin Luther King Jr., refuses to let the system break him. His only friend, Turner (Brandon Wilson), meanwhile, does his best to keep his head low and advises Elwood to do the same. Eventually, Elwood’s idealism, as well as a visit from Hattie, erodes Turner’s cynicism. Will they survive Nickel together? Sure, we gradually see an adult Elwood (Daveed Diggs) looking up news stories of Nickel's crimes. But how foregone is that conclusion?

RaMell Ross, the Oscar-nominated director of the documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, makes his narrative debut here. He and his collaborator, Joslyn Barnes, tell their story by way of Jomo Fray's first-person cinematography. When I first heard of this approach, I thought it was to facilitate the story's climactic twist, but that's partially true. For most of the film, this approach helps us share in our leads' good and bad times, whether it's Hattie hugging Turner, or Elwood getting tortured in the "White House" (which is kept sound only). It also switches between Elwood and Turner multiple times and even plays their first meeting twice from each perspective. Both are essentially the narrators, by way of pictures, and both are equally compelling protagonists.

Besides those perspectives, Fray captures some stunning imagery. None are more stunning than a journey from inside a boxcar; it's truly something else to watch the seasons zip by. It sometimes gets surreal, such as when an alligator drops by in class, which no one even notices. Even its more "mundane" scenes are made indelible by the warm lighting. Nickel may be bleak, which is conveyed excellently by Nora Mendis's sets, but there is still some hope. Meanwhile, editors Alex Somers & Scott Alario's use of stock footage brings us some jarring results, but it makes more sense as the film goes on.

Who else do they see? Hattie is the kind of woman who will treat anyone as kindly as her grandson. As such, you'll feel for her when she tells Elwood that their lawyer cheated her. Anything else might give the twist away. Griff (Luke Tennie), one of the tough guys, is quite pitiable when he inadvertently angers the cruel superintendent Mr. Spencer (Hamish Linklater). Harper (Fred Hechinger) spends most of the film as one of the nicer staff members, up until the end. Mrs. Hardee (Lucy Faust), the wife of the school's director, is only in two scenes, but she's relatively nice. The late Taraja Ramsess makes quite an impression as Rodney, Elwood's Bad Samaritan. 

Nickel Boys is an unforgettable exercise in visual storytelling. It's also a long movie, at 140 minutes, which my busy schedule forced me to watch in two sittings. Still, watching its two compelling leads will help the time go by. Just be prepared for that climactic twist. With that out of the way, it's time to sit back and watch the results of tomorrow's show. On to a new movie year.