Nickel Boys

Nickel Boys is a life, made up of pieces; some of them lovely, some devastating. It’s a mesmerizing, uniquely told story — of memory, of injustice, of friendship, of survival.

Nickel Boys is a masterpiece – moreover, it is a miracle.

A clear masterpiece held together by visual splendor and idiosyncratic performances.

As good as the movie is with its visuals, it’s just as skillful with sound.

It’s hard to describe Nickel Boys. It seems like an injustice to call it, simply, a film. It’s a remarkable piece of art, even more impressive when you consider that it’s photographer and filmmaker RaMell Ross’s debut feature film – in fiction.

If anything, Ross’ work reminds us that the camera need not be God’s unblinking eye on a story. He has crafted an exceptional film driven by captivating performances.

Repetitive, meandering and dull, Mr. Ross’s film keeps steering attention to its director at the expense of narrative by relying on two tics that quickly wear out their welcome.

I thought Nickel Boys was the best film of the year. It is a profound and lyrical experience because you feel empathy for the characters’ perspective. The acting is top notch from the entire ensemble . Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson are outstanding . They deserve Oscar recognition . This is a compelling piece of art that will change how you see the world .

While i appreciate what Nickel Boys offers in terms of its story, the strong performances from the cast, and the creativity behind the first-person perspective, that very creativity is also part of my issue with the film, the first-person perspective mostly works, but at times it becomes distracting and illogical, this is especially evident in scenes where Turner and Elwood see each other in ways that, when viewed from a third-person perspective, simply wouldn't make sense and weird, shile the filmmakers aimed for something unique and intriguing, this technical choice occasionally feels more problematic than effective, that said, when it does work, it works well, another issue i had with Nickel Boys is the occasional overly long conversations between characters, which slow down the pacing, additionally, the story structure could have been stronger and more raw to better serve the narrative, that being said, there's still plenty to appreciate, the performances are great, and while the story could have been executed better, it's still a decent story to follow and it's engaging enough to know and follow these two main characters of the film, the first-person perspective, despite its flaws, is a bold creative decision that makes the film memorable, i can see why some people would love and praise it, but for me, it was just okay.

A estética clama por filme diferentão, mas é no fundo, muita perfumaria, o que é uma pena, pois a pegada realista funciona algumas vezes, tem uma história poderosa, personagens marcantes, e sabe muito bem aonde quer chegar. Só não precisava dar uma "Godarizada" no percurso.

The constant distracting point of view camera shot, plus slow pacing ruin what should be a moving story. Runtime is at least 30-45 minutes too long. Much pedestrian character dialog that adds little.

I agree with the WSJ review: “Repetitive, meandering and dull, Mr. Ross’s film keeps steering attention to its director at the expense of narrative by relying on two tics that quickly wear out their welcome.” This should have been a wonderful movie and was wrecked by the director’s indulgence and lack of skill.