Movies like this give "prestige" cinema a bad name. I desperately wanted to like this movie, out of respect for its source--it's based on a James Baldwin work--as much as anything else. Then I pressed the 'play' button. What exactly is this film? Is it a romance? Apparently, as it spends about half the running time mooning over a young couple. What's so special about them? Nothing, as far as the viewer can tell; they just happen to be there. Is it a drama about societal injustice? It sure has that aspect of it, in bursts, though I'm not sure I'd say it pulls that off very effectively. What one can say most accurately about this flick is that it's as dull as dishwater. Nothing ever really sparks in the story, the pace is languid in the extreme, and it feels more like a lecture than a tale, without necessarily being educational. Many complain about the "tent-pole" takeover of modern cinema, but when this is the alternative, you can hardly blame the hoi polloi for gravitating towards the empty--but at least engaging--spectacles. This street, all in all, had very little to say.
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