POSSE
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli
Rating: 8.2 out of 10 (B, **1/2 out of ****)
Date Released: 5/14/93 Running Length: 1:51 Rated: R (Violence, language, sex, nudity)
Starring: Mario Van Peebles, Stephen Baldwin, Billy Zane, Charles Lane, Big Daddy Kane, Salli Richardson Director: Mario Van Peebles Producers: Preston Holmes and Jim Steele Screenplay: Sy Richardson and Dario Scardapane Music: Michel Colombier Released by Gramercy Pictures
The posse of Jessie Lee (Mario Van Peebles) is assembled in Cuba when a small group of dissenters escape from an ambush set by the sadistic Colonel Graham (Billy Zane). From Cuba of 1896 to the U.S., Lee's posse moves west as he pursues vengeance against the men who murdered his father. With Colonel Graham hot on his heels, Lee arrives in Freemanville (a community of ex-slaves), the culmination of his father's dreams and a place in danger from a group of corrupt whites from the next town over.
In constructing POSSE, Van Peebles has put together something of a traditional western with a twist: with the exception of Baldwin's Little J, the members of the group are black. Some interesting race-related points are raised, but Van Peebles disappoints by focusing instead on the standard elements of the picture. By the film's end, this has degenerated into little more than a 19th-Century shoot-em-up. POSSE is a violent movie, but without the grittiness that characterized Clint Eastwood's Academy Award winning UNFORGIVEN.
Technically, this film is a mess. Considering how well NEW JACK CITY (Van Peebles' previous effort) fared in this arena, that's something of a surprise. However, in POSSE, the editing is sub-par--scenes often come to jarring conclusions. The music at times seems better-suited to a contemporary action film than a western, and the quick changing of camera angles occasionally makes POSSE feel like something created for MTV.
Despite numerous problems, POSSE remains an entertaining film. In addition to bringing a refreshingly new perspective to the western, it tells a solid story. The subplot involving Graham perhaps creates some unnecessary baggage, but the main conflict between Van Peebles and Richard Jordan in Freemanville is well-developed. We are also given a rare (for movies) glimpse into the interrelationship between Native Americans and African Americans.
A comparison to GLORY is worth making. In many ways, the intentions of the two films are similar--both attempt to redress the historical inaccuracies of Hollywood. However, where GLORY succeeds brilliantly by wedding the dramatic impact of the black man's role in the Civil War with its overall tale, POSSE fails to attain the same level. With only a few minor script alterations and some re-casting, this could easily have been an all-white film. Many of the most important and intriguing questions about the real roles of blacks in the Old West are sadly left unexplored. POSSE serves merely to whet our appetites.
Even considering the limited success of the attempt, it's important that the effort was made, if for no other reason than that to open a few eyes and make some people aware of the bias of a white-written American history. POSSE also has enough entertainment value to make it worth a look, especially for those who enjoy westerns. It certainly isn't a definitive film, but it has its high points.
- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)
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