The Long Walk Home

Just rewatched this movie on YouTube. Taking place during the bus boycott of 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, maid Odessa Cotter (Whoopi Goldberg) resolves to walk but her employer Miriam Thompson (Sissy Spacek) decides to drive her for at least a couple of days of the week to her house. I'll stop there and just say this was quite an inspiring, if intense, drama about how oppressive it could be during that time if you were not only the wrong color but also the wrong gender, that is, if you weren't a white male. I mean, the way Miriam's husband Norman (Dwight Schultz) and his younger brother Tunker (Dylan Baker) felt threatened by the whole thing makes one wonder. And the way Odessa's teen kids, Selma (Erika Alexander) and Theodore (Richard Habersham) were almost completely defeated by those white teen boys definitely gave me a pause. Not to mention how openly bigoted Miriam's mother (Gleaves Azar) said her opinion in front of the help was so blatantly appalling to see. What gives one hope is not only the way Miriam and Odessa communicate with each other, but also the way the narration of the grown Thompson daughter Mary Catherine (voice of Mary Steenburgen, Lexi Randall as a child) assures us how poignantly inspiring the whole time was. So on that note, The Long Walk Home gets a high recommendation from me. P.S. Ving Rhames-several years before his star-making turn in Pulp Fiction-portrays Odessa's husband Herbert with hair. Richard Habersham was Eddie in Do the Right Thing the year before. Younger brother Franklin was played by Jason Weaver who would later be the singing voice of Young Simba in The Lion King. He's also, like me, a Chicago native. And Erika Alexander would become Cousin Pam on "The Cosby Show" after making this.

"The Long Walk Home" (1990): Sissy Spacek, Whoopi Goldberg, Dwight Schultz, Ving Rhames, and Dylan Baker star in this story about the 1955 Montgomery Alabama bus strike. It had to happen, but it wouldn't happen overnight, and not without serious new problems. The "back of the bus" rule was no longer acceptable to some citizens. This is a serious and insightful look at two fictional women, existing at opposite ends of the Montgomery social structure, who, while having accepted their current relationship, find themselves hesitant participants in the "larger" world. "The Long Walk Home" brings history back to life in reasonable and wonderfully detailed way. The acting is strong, dialog good, the sets and costuming some of the most thorough I've ever seen. Women have to take off their clip earring before speaking on the telephone. They leave lipstick on the edge of their Russel Wright coffee cup. Children stand in fear of adults doing things they don't understand, and often do NOT get explanations. THEY learn from behaviors.

My mother grew up in the south so I remember going to visit Grandmother and wondering about the cook, Callie. She was silent and frowned at us and we were told to stay away from the kitchen. I think she was at the point of resentment and though my parents didn't like segregation my cousins and aunts and uncles thought it was the only acceptable way. I find in sharing this movie with younger people today they are shocked at the behavior at the party and in the park. They don't realize that life was really like that in some places. I like to improve sensitivity by showing the film and discussing it as groups when we can.

Whoopie Goldberg got gypped in 1990, when she was nominated for, and won Best SUPPORTING actress for the movie "Ghost". THIS was the movie she should have been nominated for; in the BEST ACTRESS category. This was one of the finest performances of the year, and definitely of Ms. Goldberg's career. Regrettably, she is too well remembered as a comedienne. People forget how well she handles drama. This is a performance worth seeing. Sissy Spacek is fresh and forthright; and the story manages to be didactic without being heavy handed.

whoopi goldberg shines in this gripping and moving racial drama! she won the oscar for "ghost" (released the same year), but better deserved it for this film. i think that just goes to demonstrate underlying racism in hollywood (giving the award for a comedic performance by a black performer), which as of the academy awards 2002 has seemingly begun to crack. the film is a triumph of spirit and emotionally challenging to watch at times. it just makes me shake my head at how slow understanding between people who are different can be. this is one film all involved should be very proud of!!