Nickel Boys

Nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, "Nickel Boys" is the story of Elwood Curtis, a smart young black teen who gets thrown into a brutal reform school (Nickel) in Southern USA in the 1960s. He befriends Turner, another black youth, who seems to know his way around the institution. Nickel is something out of "The Shawshank Redemption" or "Cool Hand Luke" except all the boys here are black, and they might end up buried at the back of the property. A good chunk of the film is shot from the first person point of view of either Turner or Elwood, like "Hardcore Henry" except without all the action. At first I found this visual choice a little off putting but in the end I think it gives the movie more gravitas than it might hold otherwise. Director RaMell Ross has crafted a very arty film. It jumps through time and images of the civil rights movement are presented at times with others: American life in the 1960s, dream sequences with alligators, and snapshots of contemporary pieces (toy trinkets, buttons) from forensic digs of discarded children who we are to assume have suffered horrific deaths. Some of this felt like an exhibit you might find in a modern museum of art. I think it gives the film it's power, rather than being another "Jailhouse" picture. This one carries weight. Catch it in theatres or if you are in Ottawa, rent it at Movies 'N Stuff when available.