Moonlight

One of the joys of writing for the Rust is that you can be controversial without fearing you might lose your job. In some journals or media outlets I would not dare say that Moonlight has benefited in its reviews because it has an all black cast. Yet I believe this to be so as the film’s story is light, for a British audience the dialogue is hard to follow and only the acting, especially that role of Naomie Harris, is really above par.

The story, such as it is, features the upbringing of gay Miami boy (Chiron) in a poor run down area of Miami. Different actors play the role of Chiron as a little boy, youth and young man. These are played by Alex hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes respectively.

The best performance is by Naomie Harris as the coke-addicted mother of Chorin Paula. The dialogue with frequent use of the N word I found offensive but its used between black American characters. More worryingly it’s hard to follow. Further as it’s set in a tough unprepossessing quarter there is little scenic beauty for the eye and but for one lyrical Latino song I did not enjoy the music mainly rap either. The final and last stage reunites Chiron with a school friend Kevin now a married cook and with whom he had a sexual encounter. Rather than a gripping denouement this tapers out to the film’s tepid ending. All in all then a distinctly unenjoyable cinema outing which night explain why my neighbours were whispering throughout not following the film but texting.