Blindspotting

Both amusing and unsettling, Blindspotting sometimes raises more questions than its creators, lifelong best friends Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal, can answer. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Within this evocative love letter to their hometown of Oakland, California — and how it’s changed over the years, for better and worse — is a provocative satire about gun violence, racial profiling, police brutality, gentrification, and other themes that cross geographical and cultural boundaries.

It’s a contemporary look at the blue-collar city through the eyes of two goofball stoners. Collin (Diggs) is three days away from finishing his probation and starting a new life. His primary obstacle to that goal seems to be the impulsive and reckless behavior of Miles (Casal), his confidant and co-worker at a moving company.

While hustling home to meet his curfew, the somewhat timid Collin witnesses a violent act that prompts him to ponder his own safety while raising his social awareness to the level of potential vengeance. At the same time, Miles sees his anger and aggressiveness spiral out of control as a reaction to changes in the neighborhood, threatening his relationships both to Collin and to his exasperated wife (Jasmine Cephas Jones).

Diggs and Casal, who also wrote the sharply observed screenplay, are the film’s best asset, showcasing a natural rapport and engaging charisma that shine through the wildly uneven material. Diggs, in particular, demonstrates a natural screen presence that builds upon his Tony-winning turn in Hamilton on Broadway. He’s also a rapper, while Casal’s background is primarily in spoken-word poetry.

In the hands of rookie director Carlos Lopez Estrada, the film has style and attitude to spare, even if the tone is all over the place, and it’s not always clear what the rapid-fire banter — which frequently morphs organically into rage-filled freestyle verse — is ultimately trying to say.

Sometimes the low-budget film just feels like a series of loosely connected comedic and dramatic sketches, although there is an epic fight sequence outside a bar that ties things together.

Blindspotting almost winds up reinforcing the same stereotypes it seeks to break down by turning too preachy and heavy-handed in the final act. Yet even if the execution is somewhat messy, this ambitious and thoughtful effort is a real eye-opener.

Rated R, 95 minutes.