If Beale Street Could Talk: Finally, a Film Fit for Regina King

I was a few years younger than Regina King in the 80’s when she appeared on a TV show called 227. It was a grown-up show, the plot was boring as far as I was concerned, but King was like the cool older girl who lived down the block: smarter, faster, full of laughter. She had all the best lines, and she was, and is, gorgeous without giving gorgeous a second thought.

She seemed to be in everything during the 80s, often only appearing on the screen for a few seconds. When Boys in the Hood hit, I was so thrilled to see her face again, it was like bumping into an old friend at a party. Actually, that’s not a stretch, it’s was a barbeque scene.

The way I’ve been describing If Beale StreetCould Talk to people goes like this: it’s the movie I’ve been waiting my whole life to see without realizing it. I don’t go in for romance, in fact, I’m made physically uncomfortable by the heteronormative, predictable ways that movies squish couples together. The manipulative music, the mensch best friend, awk, sorry, that was just me coughing up a little something.

But just watching these two young people look at each other made me physically uncomfortable in a completely different way. Hot, mostly.

Barry Jenkins’ skill behind the camera was already clearly established with Moonlight, but it’s his thoughtful read on James Baldwin’s novel that makes this excruciating love story a complete bonfire. Baldwin constructed an easy assembly: take two hot young people in love and put a piece of glass between them. And to top it, Jenkins use of color and audio is as tangibly delicious as cake.

But even bigger than that, I think James Baldwin would clutch his heart if he could see Regina King bring Sharon to life.

There is a moment when the Romeo-and-Juliet-style strife comes to a head, where Sharon’s neighbor and the mother of her future son in law rejects the news that the young couple is pregnant. Sharon grips her arm and says, “I don’t understand you, this is your grandchild,” with a desperation built of pure, instinctive love. She’s so deeply invested in her family that she can’t imagine any other path. And she is the one to travel to Puerto Rico to clear her son in law’s name, not his own mother.

Regina King worked her ass off as an actor, and to the outside observer who has followed her closely, it’s like her role in If Beale Street Could Talk appeared in the shape of her skills and experiential depth as a person. That’s how it should be. Awards, A-shwards, I say. Give King what she deserves: leading roles.