A coming of age story centered around a pair of Jordan’s. Surprisingly, it’s worth seeing.
When it comes to coming of age films, people keep coming up with a new take on the trite genre. However, unlike the mass of coming of age films you encounter, this one is worth watching. The film follows young Brandon, a poor youth in Oakland California who’s not as cool or confident as his two best friends. Then, all of that changes when he buys a pair of respectable Jordan’s. He feels more confident, find girls respect him more, and comes to think of himself in a new light. However, when he runs into a local gangster, things take a turn for the worst and he loses his shoes. As he journeys to get his kicks back, he begins to learn more about himself as he is at this turning point in his life.
Justin Tipping wrote and directed this film and did a great job. He went in with the directive of making a visually stunning film that also featured a telling narrative and he did so wonderfully. The film itself is a beauty to behold with colorful filters and great contrasts. The cinematography that went into this film is up there with the likes of other small budget beauties like “Her”. On top of that, he tells such an interesting story in this boring genre. While some may want nothing more, a movie about a young boy figuring out who he is and his place in the world has been done before. Brandon’s journey is less dependent on this trope and more dependent on the deeper meaning of the event’s of the journey, such as in the vein of “The Wizard of Oz”. When it comes to the performances in the film, every single actor was on point. Jahking Guillory did a great job carrying this film with the help Christopher Jordan Wallace and Christopher Meyer who played his best friends. The three formed quite the dynamic trio that were very enjoyable to watch. Their characters were great compliments of one another so that no scene took a strong turn in the wrong direction.
With this said, the film isn’t perfect. Like most coming of age stories, Brandon’s life changing journey takes place over the course of just about 24 hours. While it’s nice to see character development, it’s not when a character makes a 180 degree change over the course of a day. In addition to that, while Brandon’s development, motive, and growth is clear those of his two best friends is not. While at first it’s understandable they want to be with him as he attempts to retrieve his sneakers from the intimidating gangster, it becomes a little less clear as the situation is clearly not something they don’t want to be in, especially for something as petty as a pair of sneakers. Continuing on the motive, while it’s understandable that Brandon’s sneakers become an allegorical symbol of his coming manhood, I don’t understand why he had to undergo the last set of sequences when it became ever more present he was risking his and his friends’ lives for shoes. Then again, he is just a kid and this is a simple coming of age story.
Another falling point for the film is the lack of depth for characters other than Brandon. While the antagonist Flaco is developed to a great degree, along with his young son, it’s more or less for no reason. Tipping did his best to humanize Flaco as well as show him as a monster. In the end, almost all of those scenes could’ve been cut and your viewing wouldn’t be affected.
At the end of the day, the question is should you or shouldn’t you see this movie and despite it’s flaws, you should take the time to see this one. If you grew up in an urban area, this film may resound with you more than you know. It’s certainly worth the watch, especially if you aren’t tired of coming of age films yet.
