Tutti colpevoli

It's a good film for its time with a long list of accomplished and recognizable actors, many in the twilight of their careers, including Woody Strode who may be best known for playing Draba in film Spartacus. And like the ending of Spartacus where all the slaves rise up and say "I am Spartacus" these actors all claim to have shot the redneck Beau. Richard Widmark's portrayal of a Cajun sheriff is a little hard to accept but at least they were smart enough not to have these actors try and use a Cajun accent.

In 2005, some people in my state still want the Confederate battle flag on their state flag. Yes, racism is no longer fashionable for most people, but don't believe that it doesn't still exist - the KKK wants to adopt a highway in the northern part of the state, so they can, in my opinion, get free advertising for their "fraternal organization."

The actors in this movie have familiar faces, but rarely does one get to see this many older experienced black actors together in an ensemble where each one has their own story to share. Holly Hunter delivers a strong role as an advocate for these special men, who all say -- "I did it, I killed him." An undercurrent of humor and a continuing opportunity for the unexpected to happen keeps the plot moving. As a southerner, I cared for all these people - the women who don't want to see their husband beaten and jailed; the sheriff who, like George Wallace, tries to give the voters what they elected him for.

The tragedy for everyone is the continuing disease of racism, which is not confined just to the American South, or even to whites. Every culture tends to have their "we are special because ..." - which is important, but needs to have included Edward James Olmos' visionary statement: " First of all we are all members of the human race." A movie for viewers who want more than "shoot-em-ups" or automobiles that turn into powerful monsters, it delivers the message that not all whites are murdering bigots, but standing up for what you believe in can be liberating, and have an impact.

Visually exciting and remarkable photography and a quirkish musical background makes it easy to keep watching and wondering what will happen next.

Unfolding more like a play than a TV movie, A Gathering of Old Men amasses a worthy cast to slowly drive home a point about racism that shouldn't need making ... but with this group of talent, is still strong.

The story begins with Charlie (Breaux), a black man, on the run from a tractor (!) driven by an angry white Beau vowing to kill him. Charlie disappears into a shack, and when Beau follows him into the yard with a shotgun, another shotgun appears from the door of the shack and shoots him dead. Charlie and Mathu (Gossett) emerge, Charlie stammers some excuses to take off, and Mathu shoos him away just before firebrand Candy (Hunter), who's known and "protected" Mathu and his people all her life, appears. Without asking, she assumes he's the murderer and begins to recruit every elderly black man in the surrounding quarter to appear with a recently fired shotgun -- all know what she's up to, and all fall in like soldiers fighting their own last, great war to protect Mathu by assuming the mantle of guilt. After all, each has a reason to hate the racist Beau and his family, so each has a reason to stand tall and claim the murder regardless of who pulled the trigger.

Along with a taciturn Louis Gossett Jr, most of the "old men" are familiar as supporting and background actors, and one could stretch the point that the fierce pride and determination each brings to his lifetime-of-indignity role comes from a career often stifled by the Hollywood hand that should have fed him. But even without the big plot moments like Joe Seneca's emotional speech about his son's unjust death, their screen presence -- one wears a suit, another has donned his old Army uniform -- makes a telling point. Add a soundtrack by jazz bassist Ron Carter and the live musical presence of legendary fiddler Papa John Creach as one of the old men, and the production explodes with atmosphere.

The film is based on the novel by Ernest J. Gaines (Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman), adapted by Charles Fuller (A Soldier's Play/Story), and directed by Volker Schlöndorff (Palmetto). Gaines' novel is told from numerous points of view, and Fuller and Schlöndorff use this device just often enough to confuse an otherwise straight story line. Other weaknesses, mostly from the "white" side of the tale, drag the pace and weaken the overall message. The issues the story would like to cover are just too deep to fit into a 90-minute movie.

But aaaaieee -- what a gathering of talented "old men"!

The cast of "A Gathering of Old Men" is quite impressive for a made for TV movie, with Lou Gossett, Holly Hunter and Richard WIdmark, among others.

The story is set in rural Louisiana and when it begins, a nasty white guy is tracking down a black man and he intends to kill him. However, the victim manages to get a shotgun and he manages to kill the attacker. Because the local Cajuns are a very racist lot, there are fears that they'll start hanging black men...using the clearly justified killing as a justification. As for the local Sheriff (Widmark), he doesn't want any lynchings...but he is a racist and a brute to boot. As for the black community and the white landlady (Hunter), they ALL claim to have killed the guy...making it impossible to arrest anyone. How will this all end?

The film has some good acting and is interesting, albeit a bit talky. But the ending isn't great, as the fate of the killer is never really determined....just the reaction of his black neighbors. Odd...but still worth seeing.

In this tv drama, a group of men band together to avoid arrest. It's a case of strength in numbers when a white farmer gets shot while bullying a black worker. In the deep South, the man who shot in self-defense would probably get the death penalty, so instead, while he hides, all the other workers pass the word among their families to bring their shotguns and gather at Louis Gossett Jr.'s house (where the dead body lays). One by one, they all claim "I'm Spartacus" in front of the sheriff, Richard Widmark. Ironically, Woody Strode is one of the faux confessors, and he was in Spartacus thirty years earlier. They're joined by Holly Hunter, who also claims she shot the man to protect the men who've been working her family's farm for generations.

Since we know he was a passionate civil rights activist in real life, and we know he got tired of being portrayed as the opposite on the screen, I don't know why Richard Widmark would take his role. All he does is portray a one-dimensional bigot who slaps black men while questioning them. I wouldn't really recommend this movie unless you love Holly Hunter. If your feelings are any less potent, she'll grate on your nerves from start to finish. I understand the moral of the story, but it probably would have made a better 20-minute short than a 90-minute feature.