In the spellbinding Moonlight, Ashton Sanders commanded the screen in the most heartbreaking act of the film, communicating a great deal of emotion with the slightest tremor in his facial expression. Unfortunately, his silently tortured performance is just about the only memorable thing about new Netflix film All Day and a Night, an underwhelming crime drama that does little to distinguish itself from other tales of boyz in the hood.
In prospect, there are a lot of reasons to have expected more here. As well as a strong cast that includes Jeffrey Wright and Watchmen’s Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, it’s written and directed by a co-writer of Black Panther, Joe Robert Cole, who explores a similar story about the sins of fathers, and the cyclical tragedy that this can bring to families. We follow Jahkor (Sanders); a troubled young man who we learn is serving life in prison for murder. Tracing three instrumental time lines in his life – a time structure that feels too clumsy to fully connect – the story traces the abusive upbringing that got him in his situation.
This should be a premise brimming with tense anticipation, but Cole struggles to generate much interest in what follows, largely because a lot of the material feels so familiar. Jahkor’s trials with an abusive gangbanging father (a slightly off-key performance from Jeffrey Wright) feel rote, as do the random flashes of brutal violence, and Jahkor’s futile aspirations of using rap to get out of the hood. The film also tries to fit in a romance, a gang turf war, and a story of father-son reconciliation into its two-hour running time, meaning that neither section manages to convince. Sanders’ compelling presence does a lot to hold the story together, but with it’s dour tone and plodding story, you would be better off watching Moonlight for a more rewarding exploration of black male masculinity.
All Day and a Night is about how long it feels watching this uninspiring crime drama.
With the first Monday in May comes The Met Gala. This year’s theme is the second part of 2021’s theme IN AMERICA. The first year was the Lexicon of Fashion, this year’s theme “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” had a mission statement of celebrating the “ storytelling and a historical context (of fashion), starting with the development of American fashion in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the emergence of an identifiable American style and the rise of the name designer.” The dress code was "gilded glamour and white tie.”
Of course nearly everyone just did whatever the hell they wanted to do.
TeamGucci
Jared Leto and Alessandro Michele aren’t twinning for the hell of it. They represent the mirror image photography of the early 1900s.
Billie Eilish and FINNEAS
Jessica Chastain
TeamShiaparelli Couture
Jessie Buckley,whose Alex Garland film MEN screened this weekend and the reviews are not good. Good thing her look is fantastic.
Carey Mulligan with husband Marcus Mumford
Armies of One
Nicola Coughlan in Richard Quinn
Laura Harrier in Glemaud
Ashton Sanders giving undead union soldier in Casablanca
Moonlight is a beautifully filmed and flawlessly acted story of self-discovery. It seriously deserves to win Best Picture and Best Director this coming Sunday with and Mahershala Ali and Naomie Harris also getting awards for their acting. 5/5
