Civil rights activist Ann Atwater faces off against C.P. Ellis, Exalted Cyclops of the Ku Klux Klan, in 1971 Durham, North Carolina over the issue of school integration.
Pam Says: This true story, unfortunately, still rings true today. Set back in 1971, but feeling more like 1950, C.P. Ellis (Sam Rockwell) leads the KKK in a fight against equality and ultimately school integration. Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson) is a “Roughhouse Annie” and won’t back down. At a legal impasse, the Durham city counsel advises holding a charrette to give the entire community, via representatives, a chance to be heard and develop solutions. It’s a remarkably educational film that highlights how diverse and hostile groups of people can maturely tackle problems and come to beneficial outcomes. Of course, there’s plenty of personal baggage that the main characters carry leading, ultimately, to their growth as people. Henson and Rockwell, no strangers to portraying their respective characters, find depth and sincerity in their characters and Ann Heche who plays Ellis’ wife, gives a great performance. The film has many merits which allows me to overlook some of the heavy handed overacting of the extras and smaller supporting roles, but editing needed another round or two. It’s too long and edits would have solved that problem and made the film feel more succinct. Stick around for the credits as we meet the real life characters which brings a touching conclusion to this socially relevant film that will spark conversations and dialogue!
Chuck says: Better than expected, in focusing on the budding relationship between Atwater and Ellis, writer/director Robin Bissell provides a more intimate look at the large social issues plaguing them and their peers. To be sure, there are some liberties taken with the truth, but not any more than any other films of this nature, and it does suffer from viewing the Civil Rights movement through the eyes of a white man who’s changed by coming to terms with his own faults. Still, Henson and Rockwell shine and ultimately save the film due to their low-key, humanistic performances that ground the movie and lend it poignancy.
