Barry (2016 film)
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| Directed by | Vikram Gandhi |
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| Written by | Adam Mansbach |
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| Cinematography | Adam Newport-Berra |
| Edited by | Jacob Craycroft |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
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104 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Barry is a 2016 American drama film directed by Vikram Gandhi about Barack Obama's life at Columbia University in 1981. It stars Devon Terrell, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jason Mitchell, Ashley Judd, Jenna Elfman, Ellar Coltrane, Avi Nash and Linus Roache.
It was selected to be screened in the Special Presentations section at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released on Netflix on December 16, 2016.
1981. Barack Obama (Devon Terrell), known as Barry, arrives in New York City. He is expected to attend Columbia University. Unfortunately, the first night in New York is not what it seems. Unable to contact his expected roommate, Will, Barry spends the night in the streets. As a new day begins, Barack succeeds to find a young man he met at a party a few months back, Saleem, who welcomes him in his apartment. Barry then meets Raquel, a woman who seems to have spent the night with Saleem. Later, Barry meets his roommate Will and they both begin to live in their apartment, off-campus, on 109th street. As they are walking to class, Barry meets his neighbors when one of them asks for a cigarette. In class, Barry is soon revealed to be a great student. He seems interested in philosophy and has many opinions about American society around him. While trying to fit into New York, he is unaware of what he has to do to feel accepted. During his political science class, Barry meets Charlotte (Anya Taylor-Joy), a nice girl who seems to have an interest for debates. When he is not in class, Barry is playing basketball.
While playing basketball, Barry soon gets nicknamed "The Invisible Man" by PJ, a graduate student at Columbia who grew up in the Grants Houses in Harlem. Later that night, Will and Barry both attend a frat party at Columbia where they see Charlotte again. In an attempt to leave the party, both Charlotte and Barry go to a club downtown where they form a closer connection and begin to date. The next day, Charlotte and Barry watch a political debate on TV. While Barry is inattentive about politics and declares his love really lies in art, Charlotte tells him it's his "civic duty" to care about politics and their nation. Eventually, they start hooking up. As their love interest grows, Barry continues to wonder about his place in society, New York, and the condition of other black people in the city. The next day Charlotte and Barry go on a date in Central Park, and later that day after playing basketball within Columbia, Barry grabs lunch with one of his basketball friends, PJ, who tells him he's majoring in finance and hopes to work at the New York Stock Exchange in Wall Street. Around Thanksgiving, at a bar with Barry and Saleem, Charlotte asks Barry to meet her parents. Barry refuses and Charlotte then asks him to meet them later on at her sister's wedding. Finally, Barry accepts. After going back to Saleem's apartment, Charlotte and Barry are surprised to find Barry's mother, Ann Dunham (Ashley Judd), there. Charlotte asks a lot of questions to Ann about Barry's father and childhood as she is frustrated that Barry kept so much of his private life to himself. That night, Barry and his mom see a movie and walk around Central Park where he discloses to her that he is unsure about his place in New York and where he feels he should belong. The next day, Barry and Charlotte are walking in a black neighborhood when Barry begins to feels uncomfortable as people are surprised he's with a white girl. At lunch this anxious feeling continues as Barry explains to Charlotte that everybody is looking at him. They have an argument which ends with Charlotte saying to Barry that she loves him. Barry, surprised, only responds "thank you", then leaves to go play basketball.
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