If Beale Street Could Talk

A boy and a girl are in love, but when he’s accused of a crime he couldn’t possibly have committed, can their love survive and can he be saved? James Baldwin’s novel is brought to the screen by Barry Jenkins of “Moonlight” fame, and this is a case of a followup that has all the right intentions and comes very close but doesn’t surpass the first. It’s a little too fond of Baldwin’s literary devices, with a LOT of voice over, and a few bits of dialogue which don’t make the transition from page to screen very easily. Jenkins this time is solo on screenplay duty and, while there’s some great structural work and visually he’s a master, he’s sorely missing the tonal surety of Tarell Alvin McCraney who wrote “Moonlight”. There’s an early scene with the boy’s mother which turns the melodrama up to a fairly shrill level in ways that don’t help (it’s the weakest scene in the film), while later developments balance better in tone.  Which is not to say this is without merit – it’s lush and beautiful and the relationship between boy and girl feels lived in and real. But that element of the novel not entirely being re-conceived for filming ends up making it a little more of a film to admire rather than love.