Racines

What to make of this much-heralded remake of the Alex Haley classic? It has a lot going for it - a starry cast led by Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Malachi Kirby, Forrest Whittaker and Lawrence Fishburne; atmospheric photography Peter Menzies jr. and Sharone Meir; and an authentic production design by Ida Random, David Barkham and Jonathan Hely-Hutchinson.

Yet the overall impression of this four-parter is one of blandness; a sense that the directors Bruce Beresford, Phillip Noyce, Mario van Peebles and Thomas Carter are simply retelling the story without any feeling for its historical significance. There are too many dramatic set-pieces strongly reminiscent of TWELVE YEARS A SLAVE, especially when the African American characters are assaulted by their white masters, while the settings (a plantation; the white slave-owner's house; the cattle-market) are shot in such a way - using bright light accompanied by atmospheric music - as to encourage the belief that we are watching a pared-down version of the Steve McQueen film.

The narrative lumbers on throughout each episode, with a pronounced lack of dramatic incident. The directors seem to have been so concerned with atmosphere (or lack thereof), that they have not really encouraged the actors to flesh out their roles. Too often we see performers simply going through the motions of performing with little concern for historical verisimilitude.

This is a real shame, because the idea to remake ROOTS seemed in principle to be such a good one, as a way of reminding viewers that the racial conflicts taking place in the antebellum United States have still not been resolved today. What a shame, therefore, that the creative personnel involved in this miniseries failed to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

Based on Alex Haley's 'Roots', this chronicles Alex's heritage from the Mandinka warrior Kunta Kinte who was born in 1750 Juffure, west Africa. The Mandinka kept slaves but the English brought gold and guns. Greed and revenge sends Kunta on a slave ship to America. Despite a slave revolt on the ship, he is sold in 1767 Annapolis. He and his descendants struggle under slavery all the way to Chicken George. George is the son of Tom Lea who raped his mother. He trained chicken to fight for his gambling master Tom. The mini-series ends with George who fights in the Civil War and his family being freed after the war.

The acting is tremendous. The production is terrific considering it's a TV show. There are plenty of big names and familiar faces. The new faces don't seem out of place. Malachi Kirby and Regé-Jean Page play the young leads in their respective time periods. They really shine. There is no weak acting from the main actors. The story does feel compressed from time to time as it skips through various time periods. It's an ambitious undertaking and it mostly pulls it off.

I absolutely love this version of Roots. Its unfortunate that some reviewers of this program refuse to understand the basic fact that there are no good or bad kidnappers - only bad. The act of kidnapping does not allow for some to claim a moral high ground because you provide "small kindnesses." This version of ROOTS is similar to the stories my grandparents told me. Africans were not grateful for small favors - they wanted their freedom. What is undeniable is that all white people profited from this filthy trade in human beings - even the abolitionist. Some abolitionist were honest enough to admit this simple truth.

I wish this version of ROOTS appeared on basic channels so that more people, particularly non- cable watchers could have learned about the resistance of Africans to kidnapping and oppression. Bravo to the producers of this version of Roots!

Back in 1977 alex haley and the cast changed the face of television and the world by introducing the miniseries roots featuring great acting and great storytelling, now it's been rebooted and it's great once again, it's a story about slavery and true honesty, Laurence fishbourne, forest whitaker and the rest of them including newcomer Malachi Kirby are all standouts in this one, brilliant characterization, brilliant teleplay and everything else was magnificent, you know television these days have become terrible that we need a reboot of a classic and this is a classic right, this reboot of roots is definitely the years best TV and perhaps the year's most controversial and I Give it my highest rating A+

The Roots reboot (it's not a remake) was such an amazing piece of television that, despite several users' reviews, was (sadly) historically accurate. Decades of additional research has gone into slavery since the original Roots which allows for a more historically accurate depiction of slavery, although that means it's not necessarily as true to Alex Haley's book (a fair trade-off, if you ask me). Regardless, it is a compelling piece of storytelling based on the facts of the US's shameful past.

That said, some of the negative reviews on here are stunning in their idiocy. My two favorite being the one who asks why there's no depiction of the "good Christian slave owner" and the one who claims there are historical inaccuracies and claims the fact that he "lives with a black woman" as proof that he is an expert on the subject. Basically, what I'm saying is that you should take that 7.whatever overall rating with a grain of salt. Pretty sure the rating for this miniseries should be nearer a 9 overall.