Fruitvale Station

Director: Ryan Coogler Ryan Coogler

Overview

Filmmaker Ryan Coogler makes his feature directorial debut with this drama centered on the tragic shooting of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a vibrant 22-year-old Bay Area father who was senselessly gunned down by BART officers on New Year's Day in 2009, and whose murder sent shockwaves through the nation after being captured on camera by his fellow passengers. Octavia L. Spencer, Melonie Diaz, and Kevin Durand co-star.

Product Details

Release Date:	01/14/2014
UPC:	0013132607849
Original Release:	2013
Rating:	R
Source:	Twc
Region Code:	1A
Time:	1:25:00
Sales rank:	24,615

Special Features

Fruitvale Station: the story of Oscar Grant; Q&A with cast & filmmakers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Michael B. Jordan	Oscar Grant
Octavia Spencer	Wanda
Melonie Diaz	Sophina
Kevin Durand	Officer Caruso
Ahna O'Reilly	Katie
Chad Michael Murray	Officer Ingram
Ariana Neal	Tatiana
Keenan Coogler	Cato
Trestin George	Brandon
Joey Oglesby	Cale
Michael James	Carlos
Marjorie Shears	Grandma Bonnie
Destiny Ekweume	Chantay
Bianca Rodriguez	Vanessa
Julian Keyes	Kris
Kenny Griffin	Jason
Thomas Wright	Tim
Jemal McNeil	Cephus
Steven Craig Johnson	Daryl
Alejandra Nolasco	Officer Salazar
Alex Garcia	Officer Sanchez
Marvin Greene	Mr. Mason
Laurel Moglen	Mrs. Mason
Victor Toman	Emi
Herman Tsui	Marcus
Liisa Cohen	Tenisha
Darren Bridgett	Peter
Caroline Lesley	Steph
Lucena Herrera	Rose
Brian Richardson	Lead Surgeon
Razon Tramble	Nurse
Maya Tapia	Mariana
Nassir "Sammy" Zughayer	Sammy
Patrick Sieler	Paramedic 1
Tom Cokenias	Corrections Officer 1
Wanda Johnson	Mrs. Stacy
Christina Elmore	Ashae
Tamera Tomakili	Lauren
Chris Riedell	Joe
Denzel Worthington	Darius
Alan C. Foster	Corrections Officer 2
Saul Ramirez	Corrections Officer 3
Charmaine Davis	Register Nurse
Jonez Cain	Danae
Jasmin James	Karen
Chris Morocco	Donald
Robert Aljouny	Officer Newsom
Noah Staggs	Officer Davidson
Kurt Cotton	BART Cop
Nick Crispen	BART Cop
Dustin Miller	BART Cop
Sergio Valle	BART Cop
William Enzoe Bayley	Male Paramedic
Jennifer Nicole	Female Paramedic
Lola Preza	Cale's Girlfriend
Levi Zavala	Cale's Son
Jason Garcia	Cale's Friend
William Gochez	Cale's Friend
Tristan Gray	Cale's Friend
Ruben Rivera	Cale's Friend
Kassandra Cesar	Eilly
Israel Cesar	Angelo
Tatiyana Gomez	Lala
Noah Zavala	Isaac
Maleah Nipay Padilla	Alena
Nicole Maxali	Surgical Nurse 1
Jessica Clark	Surgical Nurse 2
John Burke	Surgeon
Monty Paulson	Surgeon
Matthew Ward	Surgeon
Spencer Kalin-Mulder	Resident Doctor
Della Hamlin	Fruitvale Station Agent
James Mastel	Hayward Station Agent
Guzman Leonel	Young Teenager
Reggie Rahming	Young Teenager

Technical Credits

Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler	Director,Screenwriter
Hannah Beachler	Production Designer
Aurora Bergere	Makeup
Nina Yang Bongiovi	Producer
Twinkie Byrd	Casting
Claudia Castello	Editor
Michael Chow	Executive Producer
Ludwig Göransson	Score Composer
Antonio Grana	Asst. Director
Haroula Rose	Musical Direction/Supervision
Nina Henninger	Casting
Jonathan Leahy	Musical Direction/Supervision
Gerard McMurray	Associate Producer
Rachel Morrison	Cinematographer
Sev Ohanian	Co-producer
Manish Raval	Musical Direction/Supervision
Aggie Guerard Rodgers	Costumes/Costume Designer
Michael P. Shawver	Editor
Harvey Weinstein	Executive Producer
Bob Weinstein	Executive Producer
Forest Whitaker	Producer
Tom Wolfe	Musical Direction/Supervision

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Fruitvale Station
1. Scene 1 [4:55]
2. Scene 2 [5:24]
3. Scene 3 [5:09]
4. Scene 4 [5:33]
5. Scene 5 [7:50]
6. Scene 6 [8:16]
7. Scene 7 [6:18]
8. Scene 8 [4:38]
9. Scene 9 [4:49]
10. Scene 10 [5:21]
11. Scene 11 [7:55]
12. Scene 12 [3:26]
13. Scene 13 [3:13]
14. Scene 14 [4:07]
15. Scene 15 [2:54]
16. Scene 16 [5:01]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Fruitvale Station
   Play
   Set Up
      Audio Options
         English Dolby Digital 5.1
         Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
      Captions & Subtitles
         English For the Hearing Impaired
         Spanish
         Captions & Subtitles: None
   Scenes
   Bonus
      Fruitvale Station: The Story of Oscar Grant
      Q&A with Filmmakers & Cast

Editorial Reviews

Writer/director Ryan Coogler's debut feature, Fruitvale Station, is one of those first films that announces that a major talent has hit the scene. It's a humanistic, deeply observed portrait of a 22-year-old African-American named Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a name that might be familiar to some from headlines a few years ago. Grant is an ex-convict trying to do right by his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and their beautiful kindergarten-age daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal), as well as his strong-willed mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer). Coogler begins the film with grainy cell-phone footage of what appear to be cops lording over a group of handcuffed men, and the antagonism between the groups grows violent. Immediately after that, we are introduced to Oscar in bed with Sophina as the two have a conversation about how committed he is to her. With this one intimate scene, Coogler establishes his lead character's emotional makeup. He's volatile, both quick to anger and quick to love, but not in a cartoonish way. Jordan has the ability to turn on a dime emotionally and then turn back within a single scene, and it's a riveting performance. He's helped greatly by the rest of the cast, who all act as if they are used to this behavior from Oscar. When he gets mad, he's not threatening; he's just upset and they know he will cool down. Not much happens during the movie's first hour aside from a nearly documentary-like presentation of a day in Oscar's life, during which he helps throw a birthday party for his mother, tries to convince his ex-boss to rehire him, and goes to San Francisco with his girlfriend for a fun New Year's Eve. However, the last act of the film returns us to the scene presented in the opening images, and as those moments play out, Coogler's achievement becomes apparent. Fruitvale Station feels like Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, if Lee's major influence had been John Cassavetes instead of Vincente Minnelli. In 60 minutes we get a full portrait of what Oscar's life is like, and we understand what he has to overcome -- both internally and externally -- in order to become the person he wants to be. The events at the end of the movie remind us that tragedies happen on a daily basis, and they can happen to anyone at any time. It's a picture that could easily and rightfully dwell in righteous anger, but Coogler has much deeper goals. He's made a film that, with a low-key style that gets under your skin, poignantly affirms the difficulty, beauty, and preciousness of life.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert