Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004)

Touches You

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

If solely judged on Tookie Williams during his prison years, Redemption is a cracker-jack piece of film. It drives from the heart a sincerity that here was a man, that basically unleashed gangland hell on America, who desperately craved redemption from his prison cell. He strives to do good, to help communities by way of education in book and oration form, but is the film heavily biased towards the redemptive angle? Is the monster side of Williams soft soaped? Sadly yes it is.We don't need to see continual violence thrust in our faces to know Williams was a very bad egg, but although we see staged flashbacks that break the heart and frighten us, director Vondie Curtis-Hall and writer J.T. Allen are fully committed to garnering empathy for the man. Of course on the flip-side of that, if they showed an abundance of violence perpetrated by Williams, then accusations of glorifying would surely have followed. Yet there has to be a balance, a balance that some film makers do find, but it isn't found here.Is it a story worth telling? Yes it is, of course, and with a superb and controlled performance by Jamie Foxx in the title role driving it forwards, it remains riveting throughout. However, when the dust settles and the end credits roll, what of the victims families blighted by Williams crimes? How must they have felt seeing Williams having a film made about him? A double edged sword movie for sure, artistically above average? Yes. Morally? Questionable. 6/10

STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits A true story depicting the story of Crips founder Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, played by Jamie Foxx. Imprisoned on multiple counts of murder in the early 80s, the film takes off on the verge of Tookie's execution date, when he is visited by a journalist (Lynn Whitfield) eager to learn about the gang culture. Impressed by the intelligent and seemingly remorseful man she now sees in front of her, she is astonished when he asks for her help-in writing children's books warning of the dangers of gang life! This is the beginning of his path to true redemption and his nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.I got a little caught up last year in the big Tookie debate as the day of his execution dawned (or maybe just a little after it.) Ancient history now, but I thought it would still be interesting to check this film out and learn a little bit more about the story behind Tookie.As the actor playing him, Foxx was one of the celebrity vocal exponents for granting clemency to Tookie in the closing days before his execution. I'm willing to bet he met the man and spoke with him to research his part a bit, and that his portrayal of the imprisoned man is fairly accurate. Tookie's crimes sound truly despicable and in the eyes of many his death by lethal injection may even have sounded too merciful, but I think what the film is trying to portray is an example of how the American prison system has worked in it's ability to 'rehabilitate' a criminal and make him into a more intelligent, if not entirely decent, human being. With Foxx in the lead role, I can't help but feel his personal politics on the matter may have had some say in how the script panned out, and at times it does feel a little one-sided, going to great lengths to show the new improved Tookie without going into too much detail of the atrocious crimes he committed, but then a few other films could be accused of that recently.Quality wise, the film suffers from a bit of a disjointed opening, with too much use of flashy camera effects. Early on, this actually put me in such low expectations for the rest of the film that I actually found myself nodding off for a bit. But Foxx does deliver a compelling performance in the lead role and things do get more interesting as the film goes on. Plus it should be commended for wrapping the very heavy subject matter it's depicting up in just under an hour and a half. ***

i am only 16 and always watch movies. My family gets dvds pretty much everyday so in my video shop i have literally seen nearly everyone. This one is different. It is a real & meaningful story leaving us thinking and learning more as the movie went by. For the people who live the life he grew up in, the meaning of the movie is something I'm sure they will think about. World Peace isn't going to happen overnight. We all know that. But to look at this mans awful life and know that if we keep on hating, we may lead the same life one day. if not us maybe our future children- thats scary. Stan Williams woke up his neighborhood to a life of crime and later did all he could to save them.. he is a hero and this movie touched my heart.

which is coincidently the B-Day of the fabulous Actor Jamie Foxx who portrayed him in this film. This is one of many reasons for the Controversy. Jamie portrayed not only Williams very well, but thousands of others who have been seduced into the "Way of the Gangsta".This film is too powerful for most comprehend. Especially those who have never had to struggle. It is true that Hollywood glamorizes gang behavior, but, thats its job. No matter how glamorous the evil looks, in the end there is always jail and death. Tookie Williams made a change in the real world and Jamie conveys that on the Big Screen. I honestly believe that now Tookie has been EXECUTED, its no longer just a film, its something greater.http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/12/13/williams.execution/