Review: 'If Beale Street Could Talk' is lyrical and lovely

"Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street...whether in Jackson, Mississippi, or in Harlem, New York," reads the title card that begins director Barry Jenkins' "If Beale Street Could Talk ."

The quote is from a 1974 James Baldwin novel, which Jenkins has adapted himself for his first film since 2016's "Moonlight." The story is, loosely, about a pregnant woman, Tish (KiKi Layne, a phenomenal breakout) and her partner Fonny (Stephan James), who has been wrongly jailed for a crime he didn't commit. Tish and Fonny are both achingly young and beautiful, full of promise and hope even amid all the institutional obstacles and injustices that they face in daily life in 1970s Harlem, like not being able to rent their own apartment, or buy groceries at the local mart without being reassessed by a police officer.

Their future, however, is dashed when Fonny is jailed because a woman across town has wrongly identified him as her rapist. Tish has to tell Fonny she's pregnant through a glass window. Somehow, at least at first, the circumstances aren't enough to break their spirits, although there is the sense that both are just putting on a brave face for the other.

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Stephan James, left, and Brian Tyree Henry in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

Back at home, Tish's family celebrates their daughter. Mom, Sharon (Regina King in a powerful performance), sister, Ernestine (Teyonah Parris) and dad, Joseph (Colman Domingo), open up the sherry, put on a record and call Fonny's family over to continue spreading the news.

There are three wholly unforgettable scenes in "If Beale Street Could Talk," and the electric showdown between Fonny's religious and snobbish mother (Aunjanue Ellis) and Tish's family is one of them. Another is a stirringly haunting monologue from Brian Tyree Henry, which unfortunately is really his only significant scene in the film, and the third is Sharon's heartbreaking talk with Fonny's accuser. All are well-worth the price of admission

Not everything works totally, in between these barnburners there is a lot of sleepy down time (still gorgeously shot and scored) and a few moments that just don't quite work the way they probably should, like Dave Franco as an empathetic Jewish landlord who just loves love.

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Stephan James in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

The film plays more like a free verse poem than a traditional narrative, jumping back and forth between moments chronicling the origins of Tish and Fonny's relationship, and Tish's struggle to prove Fonny's innocence in the present.

Jenkins and cinematographer James Laxton ("Moonlight") use close ups, and straight on shots of his actors looking right into the camera as though they are speaking to the audience and daring them to notice. It's startlingly impactful and bold, like the perfectly bright clothes costumer Caroline Eselin has chosen to help flesh out this world and its characters. Does anyone use colors as perfectly as Jenkins does? Whether it's a red leather booth or a yellow coat, everything in his frame is there for a reason, and every shot is like its own beautiful painting come to life.

The whole production makes the film a transporting experience, heady and intoxicating, but perhaps the most important ingredient in bringing it all together is Nicholas Britell's elegantly subtle and heartrending score.

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Teyonah Parris, from left, KiKi Layne and Regina King in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

"Moonlight" is a hard act to follow, and while "Beale Street" might not quite reach the heights of Jenkins' instant classic of a best picture-winner, it is its own kind of marvel, lovely, transcendent, heartbreaking and as smooth as its jazzy soundtrack.

"If Beale Street Could Talk," an Annapurna Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of America for "language and some sexual content." Running time: 119 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

MPAA Definition of R: Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows KiKi Layne, left, and Colman Domingo in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

Follow AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ldbahr

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Teyonah Parris in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Regina King in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

This image released by Annapurna Pictures shows Stephan James in a scene from "If Beale Street Could Talk." (Tatum MangusAnnapurna Pictures via AP)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Russia has circulated a U.N. resolution calling on all countries to take urgent action to prevent putting weapons in outer space “for all time” a week after it vetoed a U.S.-Japan resolution to stop an arms race in space.

The Russian draft resolution, obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press, goes further than the U.S.-Japan proposal, not only calling for efforts to stop weapons from being deployed in outer space but for preventing “the threat or use of force in outer space,” also “for all time.”

It says this should include deploying weapons “from space against Earth, and from Earth against objects in outer space.”

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council when he vetoed the U,S.-Japan draft that it didn’t go far enough in banning all types of weapons in space.

The vetoed resolution focused solely on weapons of mass destruction including nuclear arms, and made no mention of other weapons in space.

It would have called on all countries not to develop or deploy nuclear arms or other weapons of mass destruction in space, as banned under a 1967 international treaty that the U.S. and Russia ratified, and to agree to the need to verify compliance.

Before the U.S.-Japan resolution was put to a vote on April 24, Russia and China proposed an amendment that would call on all countries, especially those with space capabilities, “to prevent for all time the placement of weapons in outer space, and the threat of use of force in outer spaces.”

The vote was 7 countries in favor, 7 against, and one abstention and the amendment was defeated because it failed to get the minimum 9 “yes” votes in the 15-member Security Council required for adoption.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council after the vote that Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow has no intention of deploying nuclear weapons in space.

“Today’s veto begs the question: Why? Why, if you are following the rules, would you not support a resolution that reaffirms them? What could you possibly be hiding,” she asked. “It’s baffling. And it’s a shame.”

Putin was responding to White House confirmation in February that Russia has obtained a “troubling” anti-satellite weapon capability, although such a weapon is not operational yet.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said after casting the veto that the U.S.-Japan resolution cherry picked weapons of mass destruction.

He said much of the U.S. and Japan’s actions become clear “if we recall that the U.S. and their allies announced some time ago plans to place weapons … in outer space.”

Nebenzia also accused the U.S. of blocking a Russian-Chinese proposal since 2008 for a treaty against putting weapons in outer space.

Thomas-Greenfield accused Russia of undermining global treaties to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, irresponsibly invoking “dangerous nuclear rhetoric,” walking away from several of its arms control obligations, and refusing to engage “in substantive discussions around arms control or risk reduction.”

Much of the Russian draft resolution is exactly the same as the U.S.-Japan draft, including the language on preventing an arms race in space.

It calls on all countries, especially those with major space capabilities, “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space.”

Thomas-Greenfield said the world is just beginning to understand “the catastrophic ramifications of a nuclear explosion in space.”

FILE - U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks on Thursday, April 18, 2024, in Tokyo. The U.N. Security Council is set to vote Wednesday, April 24, 2024, on a resolution announced by Thomas-Greenfield, calling on all nations to prevent a dangerous nuclear arms race in outer space. It is likely to be vetoed by Russia. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool, File)