Selma (2014)
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.
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As Good As It Gets
A Disappointing Continuation
This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.
Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.
David Oyelowo portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr is stiff and flat. David didn't quite capture Martin's mannerism merely a poor imitation. It doesn't help that the movie is incredibly slow and boring. I've seen a few actors attempt to emulate King, so far no one has done a better job of portraying King than actor Jeffrey Wright. If you havent seen the HBO movie Boycott I encourage you to watch it. Jeffrey is outstanding. Carmen Ejogo is an incredible actress and does a phenomenal performance of Coretta Scott King. She also plays Coretta in the HBO movie Boycott along with her husband Jeffrey.
Magnificent re-telling of struggle for recognition of black voting rights. Incredibly it wasn't awarded an Oscar. Only real qualm is the soundtrack which is all over the place. Oyelowo's central performance holds everything together. Film doen't try to be over-ambitious with result that it isn't over-blown.
Selma starts off like a bio pic...before finally finding its groove in the little moments: a a diner, coroner's waiting area, a car ride. The movie captures just how many lives and conversations it took to create change. There are parts of the storytelling that are familiar (almost cliche), but the overall impact is powerful. It's a civil rights story told from the people that were oppressed and rose up.
The metaphorical march to justice is a slow one; but a significant step was taken on an actual march, from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama in 1965, when a public protest triggered action that finally allowed black Americans to vote, after many years in which they had been prevented from doing so. You could hardly go wrong in telling this story, a microcosm of the broader civil rights campaign: in this drama, you have many of the major figures in the wider battle: George Wallace, Malcolm X, Lyndon B. Johnson, and of course, the charismatic Martin Luther King, who naturally takes centre stage in this movie. He's quite well brought to life by David Olelowo, who certainly looks the part and acts it convincingly (though the film mostly elides his private life). Tom Wilkinson is slightly less successful as Johnson, a more generic politician than the larger-than-life figure who emerges from Robert Caro's biography. Even though the narrative is straightforward: a fierce and violent struggle, then the good guys win, there's still something very moving when the story reaches its conclusion. But in the age of 'Black Lives Matter' and the presidency of Donald Trump, maybe also shocking at how much still needs to be done.