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If you love photography, you must watch this film. The quality of the photographs is enormous. To hear the photographers speak of their making of these images under the direction of great teachers associated with the Photo League is even more enriching. The views of New York in this documentary style is a soul shaking reminder of how far America has come and how much further it needs to go. The sadness of this film is the anti-communist witch hunt of the early fifties that shattered the group. Even if you are not a photographer, or even interested in documentary photography and social justice, you will find that this a great film about people, their youth, their energy and spirit, and how many of them found true soulful focus from their work with The Photo League.

Long admired the work of Whitaker. As a life long fan of movies and long time student of American politics and history, but unfortunately a cranky old left winger from the frozen North, my opinion can be safely ignored.

This picture will win Best Picture at the Oscars. FW will win best actor. Oprah will be nominated but will lose.

I was moved by ever scene. I had to wipe away some tears in more than one moment of this wrenching family story. Some people may say that FW underwhelmed, but I believe his underplaying was not really underplaying but instead was subtle, nuanced and slowly built up a complex personality. Oprah shaded her role in an equally effective way. The overall pacing of the film seemed just about perfect.

I was delighted and surprised to see the actors assembled to play the Presidents. I had not read about them in advance. John Cusack as Nixon and Rickman as Reagan I found especially effective. I was surprised to learn about Reagan's effort to pay black WH staff equally and to ensure that they had access to internal promotion and departmental transfers to more high paying jobs.

So would I recommend this film to friends, yes, unreservedly.