Speed RacerRelease Date: Feb. 4 (Jan. 30 -
New York)Director/Writer: Barry JenkinsCinematographer: James LaxtonStarring: Wyatt Cenac, Tracey
HegginsStudio/Run Time: IFC Films, 88
mins.
Easy on the eyes, heavy on dialogue
Writer/director Barry Jenkins and his
cinematographer James Laxton ought to host seminars about how to
shoot a feature on video. Jenkins’ first film, Medicine for
Melancholy, glides with a color palette so muted that, at times,
it looks like black-and-white. It’s easy on the eyes, and it even
dovetails nicely with the themes. Wyatt Cenac (of The Daily Show)
and Tracey Heggins star in a story that plays like Before Sunrise
in reverse: An African-American man and woman have a one-night stand
and spend the following day wandering San Francisco and chatting
about the city’s dwindling black population. The demographic shift,
which he views politically, has scarcely crossed her brow. Through
their tentative relationship, the film weaves an intriguing
commentary on race, class and personal identity. The trick of
minimalism, though, is to hide ideas inside sparse scenes, and
Jenkins is too often balancing over-stuffed dialogue with
undernourished carousel rides and dances. But his willingness to take
on heavy issues and handle them with a light, sexy touch shows not
only a filmmaker with serious intentions but one who processes his
world through his art.