Fruitvale Station

You already know how this movie ends; go see it anyway.
Oscar Julius Grant III (the great and amazing Michael B. Jordan, from Friday Night Lights) is a twenty-two year-old living in California. He's already done time (shown in flashbacks) but is trying to pull his life together. He's trying to be faithful to his devoted girlfriend, Sophina (Melonie Diaz) and is a great father to their young daughter, Tatiana (Ariana Neal). That is when he's around. He tries to keep her out of his rough life, instead of telling her he's going to jail, he says that he is on vacation.
Though he has lost his job at a grocery store because he kept showing up late, he still throws a whole bag of pot into the ocean. Sophina gets mad at him for that, but that doesn't stop them from immediately having sex, while their daughter is downstairs with her great-grandmother.
Oscar isn't a bad guy. A dog is hit by a car driving too fast. He carries the dog off the side of the road and cries upon it leaving this world. He dotes on his daughter and strives to be a good son to his mother (the regal Octavia Spencer). It's her birthday so she's not buying anything. They have a nice family dinner. She even tells them to take the train to town so they don't have to worry about driving. For the record, it's New Year's Eve 2008. Last New Year's Eve, Oscar was in jail and his mother is sick of him doing stuff which lands him in prison. She tells him that she won't come and visit him anymore.
They take the train and countdown to New Year's there. However, it is the train ride back which everyone remembers. He moves away from Sophina and sees a girl, Katie (Ahna O'Reilly) whom he helped earlier with some fish at the grocery store, just being super nice. However, when she says his name, some enemies notice him and a nasty fight begins.
The police are there to greet them at the train station. Everything goes horribly wrong. Oscar and his friends are unarmed. Certainly they are not cooperating but the police are brutal. Sophina is waiting to hear from him. While Oscar is handcuffed, a cop shots him. Even the head cop, who was mean to him earlier (Kevin Durand) can't believe what just happened and even holds Oscar's hand while waiting for an ambulance to arrive. He is taken to the hospital. The camera only shoots Sophina's back but we don't need to see her face to understand that she is dying inside.
Oscar dies. His mother can't even touch him because his death has been ruled a homicide. Sophina picks up little Tatiana and the film ends when she asks where Daddy is.
Though the police man who fatally shot Oscar (Chad Michael Murray, in the film, a diverse role for him) was charged with first degree murder. He claimed that he believed he was reaching for his taser gun instead. He was found guilty of manslaughter and served a mere eleven months in prison. A small price to pay for taking the life of a young man. A split second decision changed the lives of all involved.
This film is extraordinary. The performances capture who the people really were with some shaky camera work to involve you even more in the film. "It's a very good film about a very bad incident." My dad couldn't have said it better. I am still in shock. I can't believe the incident happened. It should have never happened. This film will make you never forget that. This film will be remembered. It deserves every award it wins and then some. Grade: A