Blindspotting

Blindspotting casts Daveed Diggs as Collin, a recently-paroled inmate who returns home to Oakland and attempts to pick up where he left off – with the character spending much of his time working and hanging out with best friend Miles (Rafael Casal). Filmmaker Carlos López Estrada, working from a script by Diggs and Casal, has infused the early part of Blindspotting with a loose, easygoing vibe that’s fairly difficult to resist, as the picture benefits substantially from the stellar performances by (and palpable chemistry between) the two central characters – with the strength of Diggs and Casal’s work here generally compensating for an episodic, hit-and-miss midsection. Estrada is clearly going for the vibe of a lighthearted hang-out comedy in the vein of Friday or its sequels, and yet it’s equally apparent that the sporadic sprinkling of dramatic happenings works far better than one might’ve anticipated (ie such moments don’t feel out of place or shoe-horned in) – with the only real exception to this a didactic climactic stretch that strains the limits of credibility well past its breaking point. The end result is as erratic an endeavor as one can easily recall, which is a shame, certainly, given the affable performances and smattering of undeniably engrossing sequences (eg Collin and Miles make a somewhat disastrous appearance at a yuppie party).

**1/2 out of ****