Rent Blindspotting (2018)
3.5 of 5 from 246 ratings
1h 32min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Collin (Daveed Diggs), a parolee facing his final three days of probation, needs to stay clear of trouble. Miles (Rafael Casal), Collin's hot-tempered best friend, can't stay out of it. When Collin witnesses a police shooting, the two men's friendship is tested, sending Collin and Miles on a collision course with each other in this bold and thought-provoking film that bursts with energy, style and humour.
- Actors:
- Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones, Ethan Embry, Tisha Campbell-Martin, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Kevin Carroll, Nyambi Nyambi, Jon Chaffin, Wayne Knight, Margo Hall, Ziggy Baitinger, Leland Orser, Travis Parker, Lance Holloway, Justin Chu Cary, Casey Adams, Michael Rhys Kan, Justin Liu
- Directors:
- Carlos López Estrada
- Producers:
- Jessica Calder, Keith Calder, Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
- Writers:
- Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
- Studio:
- Lionsgate Films
- Genres:
- Comedy, Drama
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 04/02/2019
- Run Time:
- 95 minutes
- Languages:
- English Audio Description, English Dolby Atmos, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing, Spanish
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio Commentary with Director Carlos Lopez Estrada
- Audio Commentary with Producers/Writers/Actors Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal
- Straight from the Town: Making 'Blindspotting'
- 'Blindspotting' Director's Diary
- Deleted Scenes
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Reviews (3) of Blindspotting
You'd have to be blind not to spot this is a great film...... - Blindspotting review by Strovey
Blindspotting is well-written, well-acted and all around very enjoyable cinematic entertainment. If you go into it wanting to watch a film about ‘the streets’ and two men on the edges of the law on them then it is what you will get. If you want to see a dissection of the changing face of US cities, the dynamic of race, being on the edge of poverty and crime, how it exploits and magnifies everything in a person’s life then you will get that too. It is skill of the writers and actors, three of whom are both, that you can get either depending on how you feel about your movie watching.
The charisma and chemistry between the two main characters is testament to the real-life working relationship between Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, in fact even minor side characters feel rounded and real giving the overall feel of the film as solid and bed rocked in reality. No mean feat for any director or actors.
The area filmed in, which I believe is Oakland, is shown in all its horrible beauty as you weave in and out of areas worn-down by years of neglect populated by hard people living on their wits, some honestly, some not so, all bracketed by the wealthy and exciting moving in to exploit ‘opportunities’ – all believable from the minute you start viewing it.
Front and centre of our focus and thus everything goes through them is Collin and Miles one black and freshly out of prison and the other white and surely heading there in the future as he is unable to control his temper, lifelong friends. Collin clearly wants to leave even the slightest hint of criminality behind so he never returns to prison and Miles for all his faults, is loyal to his community, as he sees it, his friend and to his credit is loving boyfriend and father. Sounds a bit trite, and in the wrong hands would be awful but Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal have written and played these two reprobates in such a manner that despite their faults and rough edges, in particular Miles, you still somehow like them. Superb rounding out of characters right there on the screen.
Both men are supported and more than held-up and grounded by two strong female characters Val (Javina Kavankar also co-writer) and Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones) who are definitely not there to play ‘girlfriends’ but most definitely the only chance either man has of bettering himself and improving. Go with the ladies lads, go with the ladies. Two strong characters and actors for the two main characters to spark off against. Great stuff.
In this day and age and back five years ago anyone approaching these topics, being the product of your environment, being a black former criminal and white one on the edge of criminality are managed with great sensitivity. You only have to look at Collin who is trying to stay straight and narrow but worries every day being extra careful in how he behaves and is seen to behave, and Miles, white and wild, who seemingly does not care one jot or have any of the worries of his best friend, even though he is behaving with criminal recklessness. Just that juxtaposition could have been heavy-handed and moralising but in Blindspotting it was played subtly and not without a sense of fun.
Without wishing to ruin the story for those that have not seen Blindspotting it is clear that the events we witness are building up to a head and before we reach that point you cannot help but fear for Collin and Miles as we get there. If the story has a weakness the ending, whilst explaining the position of Collin perfectly seems a little too trite and probably shows how the makers love the characters. All this was okay with me and left me smiling as the sun rose over California again for another day.
Blindspotting is surprisingly funny, with love at the centre of its heart and also makes enough good observations and points that the message and story has lost none of its zing five years later.
Highly recommended.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Sorry Spike Lee but is better than Klansman - Blindspotting review by NC
Just seen Black Klansman, up for all awards etc. Think this is way better film. Daveed Diggs is very credible. Actually can go with his flow. He states the case with credibility, whereas Spike cannot quite get rid of the big chip on shoulder thing. Is very obvious where he coming from.
This film does not make bold statement, just gives a cameo of how it is for this one guy in Oakland.
Good job.
0 out of 1 members found this review helpful.
Disappointing despite the reviews - Blindspotting review by CD
This film has a number of strong points, in particular the quality of the lead actors and the vibrancy of some dialogue and scenes. However it has very little in terms of a plot and the hip repartee becomes a bit tiresome after a while. I would not describe the film as a comedy. Worth a watch for the sharp directing and acting.
0 out of 0 members found this review helpful.
Critic review
Blindspotting review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso
There’s a moment of great poetry and drama within Blindspotting that many will refer to as the rapping scene. Everything in the film builds to this heated point of lyrical grace and passion; the fear of guns, the corruption of cops, the gentrification of the city, the racial divide, and the desire to do good versus the anxieties of survival. The film is not about rapping nor is strictly about a police brutality. It encompasses an intriguing aspect of culture that turns men into heated time-bombs of aggression, struggling to keep their cool for what little may be left.
Daveed Diggs plays Collin, a convicted felon sentenced to serve his time at a halfway house in Oakland. He is mere days away from having finished his time and things are looking promising. He has a steady job with a moving company, working everyday in a truck with his white friend Miles (Rafael Casal). One night while driving home alone, Collin witnesses a suspect fleeing from the police. One cop decides to stop chasing and fires five shots into the suspect, killing him in the street. And Collin does nothing, shocked and fearful, but driven only to keep on driving and mind his own businesses. He’s already been in trouble with the law and wants to keep his head low.
But there is so much working against Collin that he can’t simply stay low and keep his mouth shut, no matter how much he wants to. Nightmares of his conviction trial haunt him with visions of judging eyes and bullets. He doesn’t think too much of his friend Miles buying an illegal gun, just desiring not to be around him when he has it out. But guns only lead down dangerous paths that could take his best friend in his current state of frustrations at home and within the city where he always feels out of place, both among the hipsters crowding Oakland and the black people that find his natural ghetto speak to be an act. The pot can only boil so long before it explodes into violence. This is true for both Collin and Miles, letting only so much slide before they can’t help themselves to go down in flames.
But there’s an odd sweetness in this somber realization. Most of the film finds Collin with a life that seems frantic but warm. He has an ex he still isn’t over, a mom who pesters him about finding a place to live, moving clients who are quirky, and a salon of charming stylists that present the film’s funniest showdown and cutaway gag. These moments feel genuine so that when things get heavy, when violence seems to be the only means of justice and making one’s voice heard, we remember and they remember the community they have, small though it may be.
Blindspotting features the debut direction of Carlos López Estrada, having plenty of experience in music video and theater and it seems as though he brings all these talents into staging this engaging and tough drama. Collin’s nightmare of his trial is brilliantly staged with rap lyrics, stark lighting, tilted cameras, and distorted footage techniques that could easily fit into a music video. The aforementioned rap scene is a confrontation and rant so exquisite in its lyrics, delivery, and staging that it could pass for an updated scene from a shakespearean play. And in these heated times where there always seems to be a distance, a plight, a gun, and hatred, there’s oddly sobering sensation to a film where a black man and a white man try to become bigger than the system around them, choosing not to pull the trigger when given the option. It’s not easy but good friends pull you back from the brink and so does Blindspotting, raw enough to be important but human enough to be inspiring.