Blindspotting

Blindspotting

Starring Daveed Diggs, Rafael Casal, Janina Gavankar, Jasmine Cephas Jones

Directed by Carlos Lopez Estrada

The Story:
With only three days left of his probation, moving company worker Collin (Daveed Diggs) is trying to remain on the straight-and-narrow, but is stuck in a precarious situation where his white best friend Miles (Rafael Casal) buys a gun illegally, and wants to get away before he gets into trouble.  While on his drive home, he encounters a black man getting shot to death by Officer Molina (Ethan Embry), despite the black man being unarmed.  Collin is haunted by nightmares of the event, but also doesn't want to ruffle any feathers until his probation ends, yet as he sees Miles getting away with things he wouldn't - and Miles himself facing personal issues of his own - it isn't long until Collin's good-natured demeanor snaps.

The Synopsis:
According to the Urban Dictionary, blindspotting is defined as "when a situation or an image can be interpreted in two different ways, but you can only see one of the interpretations.  You have a blindspot to the second interpretation.  Often used when referring to people seeing the wrong interpretation."  It's no accident that director Carlos Lopez Estrada named his film "Blindspotting," as that's the major focus of the film - how race has divided us, and how we tend to see only one interpretation when there's another way to look at things.  Combining a timely tale with two terrific actors, the film serves as a satirical, biting look at society today, a film that seemingly doesn't connect until the very end, when all the broken pieces come together and we've realized that we've truly seen something remarkable.

African American man Collin has just three days left of his probation, and we're left to wonder what it was that led this mild-mannered, friendly man to land himself in jail in the first place.  Collin seems worlds different than his best friend Miles, who's a white man also living in Oakland who wears grills on his teeth, is covered in tattoos, and generally acts like a thug.  As the days tick by, Collin faces an insurmountable event that plagues his nightmares and slowly eats away at his soul, coming into conflict with Miles and essentially American society as a whole.

This encounter comes one night when Collin witnesses a seemingly-unarmed black man getting shot to death by a white officer, and he's haunted from the event.  This drives a wedge between the two friends, as Collin witnesses Miles doing things that would've gotten him arrested (such as buying a gun illegally, and brandishing it pretty much everywhere), and Collin suffers blindspotting by not seeing Miles' real situation.

In the same manner, Miles blindspots Collin's mannerisms as someone who's more overly-cautious than he should be, not really understanding that, as an African American, he has to be that way.  While Miles lives a thug life that he thinks Collin should, he also encounters his own whiteness and odd sense of privilege in unique ways as well, culminating in several shocking moments that seems to point out the differences between whites and blacks in America.

Real-life friends Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal dominate the screen, giving commanding performances that really shed a light on their differing worldviews.  While Collin is a straight-arrow, Miles is a powder-keg waiting to explode.  We eventually see what led to Collin going to prison, and even that moment sheds light on the blindspotting that we were seeing beforehand.

The film itself is an interesting look at race in America, providing a blend of buddy comedy with total gut-wrenching drama that hits you out of left field and leaves you in stunned silence, especially after the final monologue by Collin.  The film masterfully allows us to lower our guard enough to get gut-punched in the most powerful way by blending stunning visuals, superior acting, and a solid script that'll stick with you after it ends.  As we see the two lifelong friends come into conflict with one another, we learn that it's not this conflict that's really separating the two, but the unseen second interpretation that neither of them seem to see - and neither do we, until the final moments.  It's masterful storytelling, a modern-day Shakespeare classic.

The Summary:
Providing a surprisingly powerful look at racism in America, "Blindspotting" perfectly blends humor with drama in a way that leads to a resounding climax that's all the more potent since it was delivered by Tony-award winning actor Daveed Diggs, in a very unique fashion - much like the entire film itself.

The Score: A+