MOONLIGHT  3.0***

  

 The main theme at the heart of "Moonlight" is about a young black man's coming of age in a poor, drug-afflicted Miami neighborhood and his inability to  define himself in terms that his surroundings will allow. He doesn't fit into any of the categories available to him, so he sets out to force himself into one that seems like the best option. His name is Chiron, and the movie shows him  at three didtinct stages of his life, portrayed by three different but wonderful actors.( In this regard, Director Barry Jenkins did not let the  three actors who play Chiron to ever meet during production. Jenkins said the reason for this is, even though these actors were portraying the same character, he wanted each of them to build their own persona of Chiron during their respective segments of the movie with no influence from the other portrayals.  

The first of the three stages is entitled: “Little”. It follows young Chiron (with the nickname of Little) running from a group of school yard bullies when he meets a father figure in an abandoned apartment in Juan, who's a drug dealer. He isn't a stereotypical drug dealer that's often seen in movies, but one that's as fully realized as a supporting character in the first third of a movie, can be. He offers Chiron a place from his home and his drug and sexually addicted mother only to realize that he's a major factor (sells her the drugs) in Chiron's  crumbling.
home life.

The second stage, titled “Chiron”, follows him through high school and the bullies have only gotten bigger.  But he has his best friend Kevin, to help him through which leads to a sexual encounter between the two of them which is a sexual revelation for Chiron & his gayness from then on follows Chiron throughout his life. Yet, even that one happy moment is taken away when Chiron is beaten in a cruel bit of homophobia.

The final segment titled “Black” (a nickname Kevin gave him), shows the man that Chiron has grown up to be; the spitting image of his father figure, Juan. Yet, there's still something missing in his life, and as Chiron receives two phone calls, one from his guilt ridden  mother and the other from Kevin. He  sets out to visit both of them, old feelings of both love and resentment still there. I’ll let you find out how it goes with both.

This was a low budget film that has gotten rave reviews from the critics and it will be nominated for Best Picture in the Oscars. Technically and visually it is an excellent movie and the performances are fine  and my rating reflects those things. But for me I was underwhelmed and not emotionally moved by the story. Maybe that’s because it is a big downer with no humor and a lot of sadness. The downer type story seems to be a trend this year with “Manchester by the Sea” and “Nocturnal Animals”. But all  three will get Best Picture nominations.

Rated R for some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and language…BUT a soft “R” |

Clark