Jasper, Texas

Aside from the Lifetime comparison this is a pretty decent dramatization of the terrible crime in Jasper. Really believable performances by both Jon Voight (with quite a believable Southern accent, similar to Bill Clinton's) and Louis Gossett, Jr. This would probably have been much more intense as a major motion picture theatrical release, but it's worth checking out as it is. In a couple of brief scenes, the film interjects real news clips of Bill Clinton and others speaking about the incident.

What a horrible incident! I don't agree with my state's (over)use of the death penalty, but somehow, I'm just fine with the fact that the perpetrators of this crime are going to get the death juice in a few years. The movie portrayal of the incident is sensitive and well-done. Louis Gossett, Jr. is awesome in this movie, which is an added bonus. I had an opportunity to be in the same room as R.C. Horn (long story), and he's almost a dead-ringer for Louis Gossett, Jr. Anyway, a great movie about a horrible incident.

In 1998 three young White men killed James Byrd, Jr., a Black man, by chaining Byrd to the back of their pickup truck, and then driving away at high speed down a back road in rural deep East Texas. It was a horrible crime, one that was quickly and easily solved. This film tells the story of that real-life event ... sort of.

The best part of "Jasper, Texas" is the performance of Jon Voight, as sheriff Billy Rowles, who investigated the crime. The film also presents a credibly downbeat atmosphere of rural eastern Texas.

That said, I was disappointed with the screenplay. The story begins on the day after the killing and, except for occasional flashbacks, moves forward, to chronicle the aftermath of the event, from the viewpoint of the town's residents. What was a terrible personal tragedy is turned into a speech-athon on race relations from: local politicians, the FBI, a citizen's task force, the Black Panthers, a White supremacy group, and others. The film's cast is way too large, and the dialogue is inflated. And throughout this talky film, there's the usual obnoxious behavior of the vulturous news media.

We never really get to know James Byrd, Jr., ... the victim. He is almost irrelevant. Nor do we get any insight into the motivations of the three killers. The film thus mostly ignores the most relevant people, and chooses instead to tell the story of background people who talk endlessly around a sociology topic that has been talked to death. The entire film seemed academic, impersonal, and emotionally uninvolved.

I was a junior in high school when the true story behind Jasper occurred, but I don't remember much of it. Until I saw this movie, the horrific nature of the crime hadn't hit me, and I became disgusted with the racism that does still exist. While this was certainly no blockbuster, I found this movie meaningful and it really delivered a message to me.

Also, not to make light of the story, I'm from Deep East Texas, and I have NEVER heard anybody from the area use that Deep South accent. I agree that we do have a distinctive accent, but I am somewhat offended that somebody else could review this movie and say that the accent was actually authentic--that is as far from the truth as you can get. We don't talk like the characters on "In the Heat of the Night," we talk like rednecks--and to us, that's not an insult.

A well told,well acted, dramatization of race relations in the South. Jon Vought and Lou Gosset Jr, are excellent.