Most Underrated Movies of the 2010's (By Year): 2013

Honorable Mentions: Inside Llewyn Davis, The Last Stand, Pain & Gain

Fruitvale Station: As the video of George Floyd's senseless murder caused by use of excessive force from the police circulates around the globe, the largely ignorant United States society was again forced to grapple with the fact that the people that are supposed to protect the communities they serve just took the life of yet another unarmed black man. What Fruitvale Station did was provide the story of a man behind another one of these tragic headlines and pieces of video. In just 85 minutes, the audience gets to experience a day in the life of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan in what proved to be his breakout performance), a normal, flawed 22-year old man from Hayward, California trying to find his way in the world and how the "shoot first, ask questions" later mentality of prejudiced law enforcement officers deprived him of the opportunity to find himself, raise his daughter and just generally live his life. It's a remarkably potent and heartbreaking film that should've served as a wakeup call to the world on this massive issue, but here we are 7 years later still talking about the same stuff. The time for sweeping changes to our justice system from policing down to government funding for schools is long overdue, but as long as there are a sizable amount of bigots manning our police forces and political offices, it's sadly not going to occur.        

Short Term 12: Let's follow up a somber real life movie about the devastation caused by police brutality with a somber real life movie about the devastation of growing up in a short term foster home for "troubled" teenagers. What makes Short Term 12 special is that it takes a premise that is rife with melodramatic potential and turns into something raw and remarkably powerful. Both the kids in and running the home have been through the ringer (being abandoned, physically/sexually abused) and the script/actors handle their traumas, fears, etc. in a delicate, sensitive manner. It also served as a launching pad for a number of acting powerhouses (Brie Larson, Rami Malek, Lakeith Stanfield, Kaitlyn Dever, John Gallagher Jr.) and writer/director Destin Daniel Cretton-who went onto make Just Mercy and is about to enter the MCU with Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.  

The Spectacular Now: Coming-of-age tales are a staple of independent filmmaking. You could look at just about every edition of Sundance and find at least one title from the lineup about the hardships of growing up that went onto resonate with people. James Ponsoldt's The Spectacular Now is the most overlooked title that I can recall that falls into that camp. To be fair, I completely understand why it's received a pretty polarizing reaction. The protagonist (Miles Teller) isn't particularly redeemable, there's a fairly notable aspect of its portrayal of teenage alcoholism that's a little bit hard to believe and it ends on an open note that will definitely piss some people off. However, those imperfections and ambiguities are a big part of why I loved it so much. It's a beautifully-acted, refreshingly bittersweet tale where the central romance (Teller, Shailene Woodley) feels like the type of passionate yet recklessly naïve relationship high schoolers would have, the decisionmaking of the characters makes complete sense from start to finish and the expected life lessons come with real consequences. Occasionally Hollywood needs to remind the world that being a young adult isn't as glamorous or as whimsical as The Breakfast Club or Juno make it seem and for that, The Spectacular Now will always have my admiration.