Blindspotting Movie Review

Blindspotting (2018)

Rent Blindspotting on Amazon Video
Written by: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Directed by: Carlos López Estrada
Starring: Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Ethan Embry, Tisha Campbell-Martin
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
With three days left in his yearlong probation, ex-con Collin is working at a moving company with his childhood best pal and watching the time tick down when he witnesses a police shooting that jeopardizes his freedom and their friendship.

Verdict
I knew this covered some heavy topics, but it's also really funny at times. From the tension that develops between Collin and Miles to how the opening scene makes fun of how close Collin is to being free of probation. There's a lot of levity to that scene, and it's also quite foreboding. I like Miles and Collin. they, and their relationship, feel real.
What really surprised me is how well this creates a mood. The flow of the dialog and the slang really craft this world that reflects on cultural appropriation and gentrification. The pivot of the movie is also a universal issue, and the movie does a great job of humanizing, thought no absolving, the characters.
Watch it.

Review
Collin has three days left of parole and he doesn't want to jeopardize it. In the first scene, his friend is buying a gun and Collin wants to get away, but he's in the back seat of a coupe and no one will let him out. He calmly asks out, but then his friend Miles finds a second gun. It's such a funny escalation for someone that would rather be anywhere else, but it's also a situation that's much more dire than the mood suggests. This gun exchange is taking place in a heavily modified car that's also an Uber.

This uses a lot of what I assume is Oakland slang, and it really builds this world while developing the bond between Miles and Collin. They have their own language. Of course Daveed raps at a few points, but it never feels out of place.
Collin wants to stay out of trouble, but Miles is always scheming. They may be best friends, but Miles is a danger to Collin. Collin can't just ditch is lifelong friend, but he also doesn't want to violate his parole.

This has some really nice writing that lends a lot of levity to the subjects. The crux of the story is a police shooting, but this as an intriguing undercurrent of tension between original Oakland inhabitants and newer residents that are taking over. The characters describe the gentrification as hipsters moving into the hood. Oakland is a lifestyle, and this even touches upon cultural appropriation as Miles is accused of acting like a thug. He gets angry that someone would dare accuse him of not being authentic when he grew up in Oakland. It's an attack on his identity, but it's also the culmination of the differences between Miles and Collin. This sets up one of the most intense moments of the movie as Collin tries to protect Miles while leaving himself vulnerable. We've known Miles is a bad influence, but this captures everything that's wrong with their relationship.

Even the title is clever, blindspotting is referenced in the movie. It is seeing something one of two ways like the vase or face images. This movie offers numerous viewpoints that unpack the plot in completely different ways. You can see this from Collin's point of view trying not to violate his parole, from Mile's point of view as hipsters infiltrate Oakland, or from an outsider's point of view with Miles and other Oakland residents clinging to a fading thug style. Collin's ex-girlfriend wonders about his poor choices.

While this captures current hot button issues, it exceeds in spite of that because the foundation is this friendship. This isn't just a police shooting movie, that plot point is the vehicle to push Collin.