R/Comedy/Sci-Fi/105 Mins
Directed and Written by: Boots Riley
Starring: Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, Demi Moore
Review: If you’re watching a film/tv show and it is directed by Boots Riley…you’re going to see some weird s#!t.
And with his newest oddity, I Love Boosters, you indeed get the weirdest of weird s#!t (complimentary).
Boosters follows a group of women, known as the Velvet Gang, who like to steal from high fashion clothing stores and sell them for cheap a.k.a, a booster. The Velvet Gang immediately catches the attention of fashionista, Christie Smith (Demi Moore), who starts an investigation and plans to take them down. However, after the leader of the group, Corvette (Keke Palmer), finds out Smith stole a sell design of hers, it becomes personal and she decides to ruin the high fashion mogul’s empire. With the help of her friends, Sade (Naomi Ackie) and Mariah (Taylour Paige), and a newly added booster, Jianpu (Poppy Liu), they decide to take it down from the inside by working at one of Christie’s retail stores. There’s also a soul sucking demon, a teleportation/“situational accelerator” device, a car chase featuring miniature cars, crooked buildings and lastly, claymation humans wielding weapons. Like I said, a Boots Riley film.
As a huge fan of his previous film, Sorry to Bother You, I’ve been waiting years for Riley’s next big screen project. It has all the surreal absurdist aspects you expect with a fast pace and a story with a deeper message at its core. Sorry to Bother You nailed the head perfectly, I Love Boosters hits, yet, it slightly misses the mark.
That’s not to say this film lacks any imagination or entertainment value. I was consistently engaged the entire runtime, laughing and gasping at all the twists and turns mixed with tons of WTF moments. I loved the first two acts especially, it’s in the final act where it started to bite off more than it could chew. The story is all over the place but in an intentional way, purposefully taking the audience in random and unexpected directions. Yet, when it reaches its 3rd act, I started to feel the wheels coming off the track and the plot went from a contained mess to something a bit more disjointed. Luckily, the film manages to get it back on track in the end. I walked away from this biting capitalism/consumerism satire mostly satisfied.
The aspects that make this journey worth taking is the absolutely amazing cast. Every member of the Velvet Gang is hilarious and their chemistry is natural and magnetic. An unrecognizable Don Cheadle gives a transformative performance as Dr. Jack, who has a line reading that made my ugly laugh come out. However, the performance that stole the film is from LaKeith Stanfield. I can’t even really hint as to why, but when you see it…you’ll know.
The look of this film is also mesmerizing. The character’s fashion and costume designs are unique and eye-popping. The color palette of this film is bright and vibrant with mind blowing set designs all set to one color or lighting that fits the mood perfectly.
Now, I Love Boosters may not be for everyone. You’re either going to be on its wavelength or you’re going to hate it. I was tuned into this frequency just enough to enjoy the majority of it. It’s silly, full of slapstick/absurdist humor, and a colorful fever dream. It’s just a film you’re going to have to see to believe. Score: 7.5/10
I Love Boosters is out in theaters everywhere May 22nd.
