Boycott

"Boycott" tells the story of a pivotal time in the history of a young republic still bleeding from civil war. The famous mid-50's bus boycott of Montgomery which launched the modern American civil rights movement is presented with restraint and an obvious commitment to truth over drama. The film is a well crafted integration of story, real and fabricated file footage, quick vignettes of blacks and whites expressing sentiments of the time, and an interesting wandering between color and black and white all serving to keep the sense of history alive and to prevent the viewer from becoming inured to the magnitude of the issues being presented. Kudos to Wright for an excellent portrayal of a great American leader. A good, entertaining history lesson for all.

I am white, but Dr. Martin Luther King is near the top of my list in people I respect, and have learned from. I was eight years old when he was assasinated, and I still remember it. I have been delighted with these movies that have come along lately that explain what went on in the ten years or so before I was born, until I wass old enough to remember and respect these things first hand. "Get on the Bus", "4 Little Girls", "Miss Evers Girls" all fill in parts of the struggle for civil rights in this country. Everybody, black, white, whatever, should know what this country went through in the 50's and '60's. I am very aware that there are still 2 Americas and I'd like to see it become one in my lifetime.

1955 Montgomery, Alabama is not a warm and nostalgic place and time for most Black folks. Jim Crow laws were prevalent and white supremacy was the order of the day. Even with that being the case Rosa Parks refused to relinquish her seat to a white person and a movement quietly and auspiciously began.

"Boycott" is about the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama that lasted 381 days. It's a closer look at the bus boycott and its leaders and its participants rather than a macro look at the civil rights movement or just a focus on Martin Luther King, Jr. "Boycott" featured movement leaders such as Ralph Abernathy (Terrence Howard), Jo Ann Robinson (CCH Pounder), E.D. Nixon (Reg E. Cathey), and others. Inevitably it featured MLK (Jeffrey Wright) and his wife Coretta Scott King (Carmen Ejogo). The movie is educational and stirring and Jeffrey Wright did a fantastic job as MLK.

I'd like to take a few sentences to sing the praises of Jeffrey Wright. This man is an Oscar level actor. I first saw him (or remember seeing him) in "Shaft" (2000) and dam if I didn't think he was Puerto Rican. He has played many different roles and he's played them all exceedingly well. Since "Shaft" I've seen him in "Critical Care," "The Manchurian Candidate," "Lady in the Water," "The Invasion," "The Hunger Games" (Catching Fire and Mockingjay Part 1 and 2) , "Game Night," and "Westworld" the TV series. Not all roles were equal and not all roles were even noteworthy, but he crushed every role he got. Add this movie's role to Wright's list of accomplishments.

While thousands of mourners poured into the Georgia Capitol rotunda on Saturday to pay tribute to Coretta Scott King, the first woman and the first black person to lie in honor in what once was once a seat of segregation, I revisited events that occurred in the beginning of the Civil Rights movement by watching Boycott. Carmen Ejogo did an outstanding job playing Mrs. King, and Terrance Howard was equally good as the Rev. Abernathy. I hope to get a chance to see him in Hustle & Flow, as I remember him being fantastic in Crash. Jeffrey Wright came a long way from his role as Peoples in Shaft to play the Rev Martin Luther King Jr. I have several films on my list to see that he plays in and I am looking forward to seeing him in those roles. Boycott was a revealing and fascinating look at people's struggle for respect.

I just saw Boycott on Kings day of celebration 2004 and it has renegized me as a filmmaker and brother. All the elements are her from Jeffery Wright's beautiful portral of a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders and the power to move forward on faith and conviction, to the supporting cast and the brilliant cinematography telling the story in both a narritive and documentary style. Much love to Clark Johnson for his direction in a film that offered us more of king then we ever knew and handling the material with the respect it is due. Let's not forget david Hennings who I hope to hire someday and Stewart Burns for such poignant writing. My favorite part is when every one gets on the now desegregated bus but king and you see it pull away with king in the back window. He is ordinary yet extraordinary and has more battles yet to come. The ending is inspiring and makes this a new classic in the history of king's legacy. Props to HBO and all involved.