I Love Boosters

Buffeted by both an incredible cast and crew, I Love Boosters is an unexpected celebration of friendship, community, and solidarity.

“Boosters” isn’t perfect and that doesn’t matter. The audacity of it — the exuberance Riley puts into making and loving movies — is what I want to see more of from every filmmaker, fashionista and human being still grinding at their own creative ambitions.

I find it hard to wish Riley would rein himself in when the excess is so much a part of the film’s joy.

It’s hard to imagine a more original movie, or a more unfiltered vision from the mind of its maker.

It is, ultimately, a film completely uninterested in subtlety. That's both to its credit and to its detriment.

Too many elements of Riley’s sophomore feature hang like excess fabric from what would otherwise be a stunning, smart ensemble.

Gosh, is it ever a letdown to have a filmmaker all but pop up on screen to remind us what his movie is not-so-secretly about, before failing to live up to not only his own political objectives, but some of the most basic visual tenets of narrative filmmaking. Down with the bourgeoisie? Absolutely. But must the revolution be so sloppy?

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

As a sorta-followup to his bonkers 2018 directorial debut, Sorry to Bother You, Boots Riley’s I Love Boosters depicts a similar set of lower-class victims in a similarly unpredictable, ultra-maxi, often delirious manner. Where his first film followed a beaten-down call center employee on a nightmarish hunt for promotion, Boosters chases clout with a trio of frustrated, homeless wannabe fashion designers. These opportunistic young women see a string of high-profile shoplifting sprees as their ticket to Robin Hood notoriety, lifting seasonal ensembles from the racks of the haves so the subterranean have-nots might look sharp at a more reasonable price. And, of course, it’s a fringe benefit that the girls committing that hustle should pocket a little spending money for their trouble. Everyone in this vibrant, mixed-up world is fighting to climb over somebody else, whether it’s the vengeful, delusional corporate designer at the head of the table or the angry, proactive denizens tucked away under her floorboards. It’s an angry time and place to live, after all, one where fresh allies seem increasingly few and far between. I was grinning and rocking right along with this ride for the first hour, then suddenly reached the edge of my sugar rush and hit a wall. Or maybe I just went numb. Watching I Love Boosters is like taking a long swig from the Technicolor fire hose, a rich and syrupy blast of raw creativity that hammers the consciousness with bold hues, wild ideas, rumbling metaphors and more than a little toxic, random craziness. That was the case for Sorry to Bother You, too, especially as its train jumped the tracks into unbridled mayhem on the home stretch, and this iteration goes several steps further in most every sense. If you’re into chaos and volatility, a wildly spinning compass that never points the same way twice, I Love Boosters is gonna be your jam. If you crave order and resolution... well, you can still absorb some imagination fuel, but you can also probably expect to walk away unsatisfied. I guess I count myself in that second camp. Riley’s vision is an uncontrolled burn of hyper-inflated imagination, and a high-strung vent of many real, pertinent societal frustrations, but its confusing plot structure and empty, subversive resolution left me wanting a little more. Or maybe a little less.

Boots Riley returns to theaters with I Love Boosters, a maximalist social satire that pits Corvette's (Keke Palmer) shoplifting Velvet Gang against Christie Smith's (Demi Moore) exploitative fashion empire - with a healthy dose of sci-fi surrealism on top. Unfortunately, while Riley delivers a feast of practical effects and craft, he fails to support the spectacle with a script that goes beyond surface-level social insights. The film’s unrefined editing further deducts style points, and Riley’s penchant for “tell don't show” flips potentially revolutionary material into trite sermon. Most frustratingly, I Love Boosters' limp and naive conclusion re-contextualizes the previous three acts as the flirtations of an artist trapped in a bubble, rather than the convictions of a revolutionary in the streets.

I walked into I Love Boosters Movie expecting a fun, over-the-top experience, but honestly it was one of the most frustrating movies I’ve watched in a long time. The story felt completely all over the place, like the writers just threw random scenes together and hoped the audience wouldn’t notice. None of the characters felt believable or interesting, and the dialogue sounded awkward almost every single **** pacing was terrible too. Some parts dragged on forever while other scenes rushed through important moments with no buildup at all. Instead of being funny or entertaining, a lot of the jokes just felt forced and repetitive. By the halfway point I was checking the time wondering how much longer was **** visuals and editing didn’t help either. Certain scenes looked unfinished, and the constant chaotic energy became exhausting instead of exciting. It felt like the movie was trying way too hard to be “crazy” and “random” without actually giving viewers a reason to care about what was happening.What disappointed me most is that the movie had potential. The concept itself could’ve been entertaining with better writing, stronger acting, and an actual sense of direction. Instead, it came across like a loud mess that confused being obnoxious with being funny.Overall, I genuinely thought I Love Boosters Movie was terrible. It’s one of those movies that made me wish I had spent my time watching almost anything else.

The message of this film beats you in the face like a shoplifter trying to escape a Walgreens security guard. It's Anti-capitalist and Anti-White. It's just so hamfisted in it's storytelling and cartoonish characters. It's a child storybook made for low-IQ adults. It's not clever, it's annoying. Save your money and follow the message of the movie, pirate it if you must watch.