Boycott

This film does an excellent job of bringing an important event in American/African-American history to life. When Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat on 1 December 1955, she set in motion a whole movement of people working to insure civil rights for all citizens.

The cast underplays the events, allowing the viewer to realize the importance of what is happening. The actor playing Dr. King gives a moving performance and is powerful in his recreation of King's gift for rhetoric, expressing the desire of people to be free.

This film, following other classics of histo-drama such as Malcolm X or Cry Freedom, is not a biography of Martin Luther King. Instead, it shows in detail the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the beginnings of Dr. King's philosophy and motivation.

It is somewhat dis-orienting at first, as it is shot both in a documentary style, with references to the camera and a raw, un-cut feel, and in a more traditional style. However, as the movie progresses, you find both styles equally powerful in their methods.'

I found this film particularly moving because I was not alive during the events depicted, and the personification or the real-ization of the characters, people I grew up near worshiping, brought home just how different today's world is from 1950's Alabama.

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.

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.

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.