Our Review

                  Movie: NICKEL BOYS

 Rating:  PG-13, thematic material involving racism, some strong language including racial slurs, violent content and smoking

                       Length: 2:20

        Release Date: December 20, 2024

Jeanne: The 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead is a very powerful story about two Black boys who experience the horrors of a fictional reform school called the Nickel Academy. Whitehead got his inspiration from a real-life school in Florida, the Dozier School for Boys. Director RaMell Ross, making his narrative feature directorial debut, also co-wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes for the film adaptation NICKEL BOYS.

Set in the early 1960s in Tallahassee, Florida, Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) is a bright student enamored with the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He lives with his grandmother, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), who dotes on him --- and worries about his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement. But his dedicated high school teacher, Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails), recognizes Elwood’s potential and helps him enroll in Melvin Griggs College, an institution of higher learning that offers free tuition.

It is on his way to the campus when Elwood is offered a ride in a car that turns out to be stolen. Elwood is convicted as an accomplice and sent to Nickel Academy, where he is initially lied to by a wicked white administrator named Spencer (Hamish Linklater), who informs the new students they can “graduate” anytime if they work their way up through the system.

Nickel is segregated, as one would expect. The white boys are afforded more opportunities and better treatment. The Black youths receive little or no education and are not really permitted to leave until they turn 18, because they are hired out by the school as cheap labor, in the name of “community service”. Elwood is bullied --- and beaten --- by both the students and the administrators. He does make a friend --- another quiet student named Turner (Brandon Wilson), who encourages him to keep his head down.

Together they navigate the system at Nickel, eventually getting assigned to a work detail with a white resident as their superior. Through all of this, Elwood is keeping copious notes in a journal which he convinces Turner to give to a government inspector visiting the campus. When Spencer finds out, Elwood is tortured in the heinous “sweatbox”. Turner learns that the administrators plan to murder Elwood, so the two friends plan their escape.

Throughout NICKEL BOYS, Ross employs various methods to tell this story. Filmed in a first-person point-of-view, for much of the first hour we don’t see Elwood on screen --- only reflected in a window or pictures of him from a photo booth. Instead, we are seeing things play  out from Elwood’s perspective --- as if he were behind the camera. While I understand the impact of this technique, personally I found it disorienting --- and ineffective.

There are also a fair amount of flash forwards inserted into the narrative. Adult “Elwood”, played by Daveed Diggs whom we only see from the back, lives in New York City and owns his own moving company. When the horrors of the Nickel Academy come to light, and a multitude of unmarked graves are discovered --- containing the remains of mostly Black students --- Elwood struggles with the decision of whether or not to testify.

I was completely enamored with Whitehead’s brilliant book. However, Ross’ film does not have the same impact. So many of the unspeakable acts these boys endured are glossed over. One of the other Black students, Griff (a terrific performance by Luke Tennie who is also great in “Shrinking”), is a boxer. He’s told by Spencer to take a dive in the third round so his white opponent can win. When Griff disobeys and beats the other boxer, there is hell to pay. And Griff’s horrible fate is merely a footnote.

Ross spends a lot of his movie showing historical found footage from the era. While this may appeal to some, I found it distracting. At two hours and 20 minutes, much of this could have been cut to tighten his screenplay and return the focus to the plight of these disadvantaged children.

Theater release Dec 20, 2024

Opinion: Wait for VOD

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David: Most movie fans will tell you that to capture the essence of a good book on screen is difficult. With NICKEL BOYS, which is based on Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel THE NICKEL BOYS, some will leave the movie theater less than satisfied.

Personally, I was expecting some harsh sequences given that the story is based on the real-life Dozier School for Boys, a controversial reform school in 1960s Florida. History has revealed that the Dozier academy treated its Black students so much worse than the white boys, including torture and killings, so a difficult film to watch was anticipated.

Yet under the direction of RaMell Ross, in his narrative feature debut, who also co-wrote the adaptation with Joslyn Barnes, NICKEL BOYS comes across as rather tame. There is only implied evidence of bad treatment. The Black boys seem to enjoy their meals together, they play games, etc. Moreover, at two hours and 20 minutes, NICKEL BOYS is much too long.

The two leads are played by Ethan Herisse as Elwood and Brandon Wilson as Turner, and both earn our attention. Turner is the more worldly of the two good friends whose bond is strong. When Turner learns of the plan by Nickel’s racist administrators to murder Elwood, the duo plot their escape which is fraught with danger.

The best moment of this film comes when Griff, a Black heavyweight boxer (Luke Tennie) is ordered to throw a fight by taking a dive in the third round. As the fight progresses and money is exchanged between the white spectators, it is obvious that Griff must follow the orders he was given. But when he ends up beating his white opponent, the academy’s white administrator, Spencer (Hamish Linklater), sits shocked in the front row. It’s obvious that Griff is in deep trouble.

The style in which this movie was filmed will come under scrutiny because it was done from a first-person point-of-view. As an example, when two of the cast members are having a conversation in a bar, we see only the face of the actor furthest from the camera, and we see only the back of the second participant --- rarely is an editing process in play that reveals the responses of both people. This is  rather disconcerting as we are not privy to all the emotions that might have driven the narrative with more purpose.

Theater release Dec 20, 2024

Opinion: Wait for VOD