In Nickel Boys, we get to go first-person-action mode in a drama about two Black boys unjustly sent to a segregated reform school in the Jim Crow South, 1962. But when the most compelling selling point of the film is its cinematography, that’s a problem.
Nickel Boys is unique in that we the audience get to watch the story unfold directly through the eyes of its two protagonists; it’s a truly first-person perspective. The technique is hard to pull off and cinematographer Jomo Fray largely succeeds, though the vantage point is at times limiting.
The movie itself is good and often heartbreaking, even if the end result is somewhat middling. There are moments when the Nickel Boys’ first-person really works; early on, when Elwood is apprehended and ripped from his pleasant life, or when they are taken into the “back room” for more nefarious purposes.
But being pulled at an optical level into the heads of our protagonists ironically leaves us more disconnected from them in other ways. It’s hard to get to know a character, let alone care for him, when you rarely see him on screen. And once the movie starts switching positions, more than a few times I got confused as to whose head “I was in.”
I’ve actually watched this movie twice. The first time I watched it late at night in my movie room, while doing some multitasking. When I sat down to write this review, I realized I remembered very little of what happened in its latter half. So I watched it again, and was amazed to discover that the issue wasn’t fully on my shoulders—the latter half just didn’t hold my attention particularly well. Some important things happen, but again, being so disconnected from the semi-unseen characters really lessens the emotional intensity.
Nickel Boys has great cinematography at a technical level—but when I think about it, it’s cinematography is a large reason as to why Nickel Boys fails to fully connect.
Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.