Customer Reviews

Boycott

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In a good way. Here, the man who brought us "Peoples Hernandez" gets to play a character whose charisma actually equals his own. I speak of none other than the legendary Martin Luther King, Jr. Seriously, it may be impossible to emmulate a man so great, but Wright gives a great effort, full of Passion and Polish, that makes you feel the events surrounding the Montgomery Bus Boycott. For people, like myself, too young to remember the civil rights era, this movie is as educational as it is entertaining. And vice versa.

I decided to watch this film and screen it for an undergraduate class on representations of black leadership in American culture, and I expected it to be, like many filmic accounts of the African American freedom struggle, tired and flawed. Everything about this film is wonderful! Aside from Jeffrey Wright's brilliant performance, the use of color, various film grains, and other cinematographic techinques make this film superb. I loved it. I watched it twice in one sitting.

I am a late arrival to the career of Jeffrey Wright. The first time I saw him was in Angels in America. He caught my attention and I was riveted to every scene he was in. Wright as Dr. King was a strike of genius. He nails the performance with conviction and compassion. Wright steals every scene he appears in. The project as a whole is very impressive and I commend HBO for investing in this and other projects in which the lives and interests of African Americans are the focus. Terrence Howard is also a figure to watch out for in the future. Howard's performance is powerful especially with his facial expressions. Carmen Ejogo's performance is warm and supportive to the Dr. King character. In playing her part though, she was able to emote what she feels for her husband as she and Wright are real life husband and wife.

There is one moment in this film where Dr. King is overcome with fear and prays to God for strength and it is one of Wright's strongest scenes. It shows exaclty the fear that one might feel if suddenly realizing that you might not live to long just because of standing forwhat was right. Wright's speeches are very King like and in delivering his lines, Wright takes on a slowness of speech that was characteristic of the way Dr. King spoke. He spoke slowly as to give thought first to every word before before it was uttered.

I do find at times that the handheld camera is a bit much and can be a distraction but it can be easily overlooked.

I urge you to buy this film and watch it with your children. It is simply brilliant.

On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama so that a white passenger could sit down. Her arrest for this act of civil disobedience sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, one of the most significant and successful efforts against racial segregation in American history. The HBO movie "Boycott" looks at what happened when the one-day boycott of the Montgomery buses called because of the Parks' arrest became a protracted effort that last more than a year. The focus is not on Parks (Iris Little-Thomas), but on the young Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Jeffrey Wright), who becomes the spokesman for the boycott and had his first leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement. However, while the focus in on King, the work of other leaders, such as Ralph Abernathy (Terrence Howard) and Jo Ann Robinson (CCH Pounder), as well as the ordinary citizens who walked to work and drove the car pools, are covered and honored as well.

In watching how King becomes a leader be sure you continue to pay attention to how the city government of Montgomery tried to break the boycott, because there was a complexity to this struggle that goes beyond the simple idea that Negroes in the city stopped riding the bus. The escalating efforts by the city not only served to solidify King's believes in the value of nonviolence, but also revealed the hypocrisy of using the law to enforce injustice. There is also the interesting relationship between King and Bayard Rustin (Erik Todd Dellums), who actually sees King as failing to live up to Gandhi's example because there are armed men protecting Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo) and his daughter. King is a revered figure in the telling of this story, but he is not turned into a walking saint, and neither the writing nor Wright's performance tries to make him anything more than a man trying to make the boycott work against great odds, and the concern of Daddy King (Mike Hodge) for his son's safety foreshadow's King's assassination in 1968, even though I think few viewers will not have his fate always in the back of their mind while watching "Boycott." The only serious complaint is that the movie seems to end somewhat abruptly because what turns out to be the straw that breaks the camel's back does not strike us as such at the time, so when victory is achieved it comes as something of a surprise.

Writers Herman Daniel Farrell and Timothy J. Sexton, working from Stewart Burns' book "Daybreak of Freedom," come up with creative ways to keep things movie in a movie that is about a boycott that lasts over 380-days (the exact number is in dispute). You might think there would be a problem in showing people not riding a bus, but seeing the Negroes of Montgomery walking and car pooling to get to work becomes a potent series of images. We also have folks on both sides of the issue addressing the camera with what constitute quick asides that give a sense of what people were thinking, which includes some rather ugly thoughts. The bit of creativity where what Rosa Parks was thinking before her fateful moment in history, consisting of images seen on the window of the bus, is not repeated. If you watch "Boycott" again after exhausting the special features, most of which require you to go frame by frame to read about the people and times, you will understand more of what is happening in the various montages that tie scenes together. This is important becuase "Boycott" is trying to be educational as well as inspirational.

This has been the best film regarding the Mongomery Bus boycott I have seen so far. I appreciated the way it showed the interdependace of the Montgomery improvement Association, how it introduced me to key players in the drama that usually get hidden in the shadow of King (such as Bayard Rustin, Reverend Abernathy,the strong women leaders,and the pencil pushers that kept everything running)and the eclectic soundtrack that wove years of black history throughout the story. This is one to watch with the kids!

A good movie with strong and moving actors.Jeffery Wight at some of his best work as Dr.King and what can I say about Terence Howard.This young man is on his way. This is one movie that should be seen by everyone. A very important and uplifting time in history.

Rather than make BOYCOTT another boring history lesson, the filmmakers have wisely chosen to take the characters off the mantlepiece and allow them to breathe and feel like human beings. Dr. Martin Luther King is not just a dynamic minister, supporting a noble cause, he's also a man with a young wife and family. He has feelings and is vulnerable. This allows the film to have a greater impact than did past films about King, because here the audience can better relate to him as a real person.

The minute you hear Jeffrey Wright's voice as Dr. Martin Luther King, you can't help but be glued to the screen. Throughout the film, Wright effectively captures the essence of King. It's a dynamic performance that equals if not surpasses Denzel Washington's performance as Malcolm X.

Others are also strong in the film. Carmen Ejogo is very effective and human in her role as Coretta Scott King. She's so convincing in her role, that you forget that this is the British-born actor that made her film debut as the little girl with the strong West Indian accent in ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS.

Another standout is Erik Dellums as Bayard Rustin. As the gay radical that assisted in the boycott, Dellums brings to life a figure often ignored in the past.

Canadian-born actor, Clark Johnson (best known for his role as Det. Meldrick Lewis on TV's "Homicide") makes an auspicious feature length directing debut with this film. In addition to getting great performances from his cast, he effectively uses the visual aspects of film to help drive the narrative. At least some credit here must also be given to Herman Daniel Ferrell and Timothy J. Sexton, who adapted the book, DAYBREAK OF FREEDOM by Stewart Burns for the film. Particularly effective are the scenes immediately leading up to Rosa Parks's refusal to give up her seat to a white man. Iris Little-Thomas is also excellent in her role as Mrs. Parks.

As in any film, you can nit-pick here and there. For one, the filmmakers have chosen to use a style of music on the soundtrack that didn't exist in the 1950s. Many of the actors don't physically resemble the real life figures that they portray (of course, that's usually the case anyway). The visual style of the film, while very effective at times borders on "MTV-style" flashy. However, for a film this powerful, these criticism are rendered insignificant.

Overall, BOYCOTT is a fine film that explores an important part of American history with passion and depth. It just doesn't re-tell the story in purely academic fashion, it brings it to life. In short, BOYCOTT is a worthy addition to any film collection, particularly those with an interest in fact-based stories.

In December 1955,Rosa Parks wilfully refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery,Alabama bus.Her refusal sparked what was to become an 381 day boycott of the Montgomery transit system that saw the rise of fledgling minister and newcomer Dr.Martin Luther King and what was to become what is now recognised as "The Birth of the Civil Rights Movement".HBO has turned in a tremendous,nearly moment-by-moment account of that period of time,the events that transpired and the main figures that were intimately involved in the boycott that found itself going all the way to The Supreme Court.This film is taut with tension from the very opening scene and keeps propelling forward with unrelenting mercy as one woman's brave act of defiance of segregation law spearheads an entire awakening of conscience and soul of not only the African-American population butultimately of the country at large.This film is the most excellent starting place for all students of AMERICAN history.We cannot all be free until all are free!
One interesting point that this film showed was that MLK Jr.(amazing as always Jeffrey Wright!) IMMEDIATELY left the pulpit in the middle of his message to go to his family when he is informed that his home had been bombed.He didn't just sit there looking puzzled and continued what he was doing as some other famous leader did!
4 1/2****'s for this totally compelling , gripping and well made docudrama.

First, let me preface this review by saying my husband and I are friends with the person who wrote the movie (Herman Daniel Farrell III) - that aside, the movie is wonderful. I groaned when my husband said Herm's movie was going to be on HBO, but I was pleasantly surpised. It was very engrossing - I didn't want it to end (Herm, write a sequel!) As someone who doesn't have a great knowledge of that era, it really opened my eyes. The characters were very believable and you felt like you were there with them. Definitely a DVD to own, not just rent.

I was absolutely floored by this movie. Though I am a child of the era and understood all of the goings on, I was not yet ready for the performance that Jeffrey gave in the role of Dr. King. I became familiar with him in the movie "Shaft" and am just beginning to realize his wonderful talent as a character actor. His voice was actually scary it sounded so much like Dr. King's. And the way he and Terrance Howard played off each other seemed so real. I forgot that Abernathy looked nothing like Howard. This is just a movie that I must own.