In the early hours of the year 2009, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was shot and killed by police at Fruitvale train station. The incident, captured by many spectators’ cell phones, inspired protests and riots across the Bay area in California. Fruitvale Station, a debut film from Ryan Coogler, is a powerful account of Oscar’s last day alive that culminates in this fateful event.
Waking up on New Year’s Eve, Oscar (Michael B. Jordan, Chronicle) resolves to get his life together. Primarily earning money from dealing drugs, Oscar dreams of finding a more respectable way to earn money. He promises to be a better man to his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), to whom he has been less than faithful; He wants to be a good son to his mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer), whose birthday happens to be this same day; Most importantly, he wants to be a great father to his four-year-old daughter Tatiana (Ariana Neal). As he takes these first steps toward bettering himself, he finds that life is not prone to cooperating with the best laid plans of men.
