MOONLIGHT

(2016) There is much to love about Moonlight.  The performances are genuine, film beautifully shot and with definite moments of raw emotion in its simplicity.  Chronicling the story of a young African-American man named Chiron growing up with only his drug-addicted mother on the rough streets of Miami, the film is divided into three parts: "Little" covers his childhood as a sensitive, small boy with few friends, often picked on and called "faggot" etc. until he finds kindness and a part-time father figure in the form of Juan (Mahershala Ali, whose Oscar nomination is WELL-deserved), a drug dealer who along with his wife treats the young Chiron better than the boy's own mother.  Section two, "Chiron" is the strongest of the three-story structure, and covers Chrion's teen years.  The bullying hasn't stopped, Chiron's mom is a full-on addict now, and only two things seem to anchor the young man's sanity: Juan, and Chiron's best friend Kevin (a terrific Jharrel Jerome, who's already been cast in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's Mr. Mercedes and has a big future coming).  Ashton Sanders as Chiron turns in a beautiful, understated performance that will have you feeling every ounce of the kid's pain.  It is in this segment when Chiron's more-than-friends feelings for Kevin are briefly realized, yet followed by a betrayal that will affect Chiron forever ... leading to part three, "Black" - the name Chiron goes by now.  We see his life as a man, progressing and yet at a standstill (to say more would reveal spoilers), and to me this is where the film falls apart.  There is some minor resolution, but a chance phone call that seemingly will lead to a final answer to Black's/Chiron's biggest life question ends abruptly, leaving the audience to determine what happens after the credits - which is fine, except for me it only hit home that, like 2014's Boyhood, Moonlight (though the better of the two) is a film without plot or ending, further disappointing (to me) in what feels like a total "wimping out" on anything resembling what people call its "gay" storyline.  (rated R)  7.5/10 stars