ROSEWOOD
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1997 Michael John Legeros
(Warner)
Directed by John Singleton
Written by Gregory Poirier
Cast Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Bruce McGill,
Loren Dean, Ester Rolle, Michael Rooker, Elise Neal,
Robert Patrick, Catherine Kellner
MPAA Rating "R" (presumably for violence and language)
Running Time 139 minutes
Reviewed at Six Forks Station Cinemas, Raleigh, NC (22FEB97)
==
Ugh. Director John Singleton's dramatization of a little-known piece of Florida history-- when a black town was burned to the ground by whites in 1923-- is this month's longest sit. The padded (and often predictable) plot is punctuated by increasing acts of violence and racial hatred. No, no punches are pulled, which makes for a history lesson as unpleasant as it is important. The technical credits are strong, though, and there's a well-acted cast of non-compelling char- acters. (But what the Hell is mush-mouthed Michael Rooker doing here? Here's barely intelligible as the local law.) Regrettably, the drama is further diminished by the effect that this story is likely to have on the more-reactive members of the audience. Folks get worked-up in the movie, folks get worked-up in their seats, and everyone ends up talking back to the screen. So, when the camera passes a young woman's corpse, and someone behind you invariably yaps "she's dead!," be prepared to turn around and shout "gee, do you think so?"
Grade: C
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC, USA, Earth legeros@pagesz.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w) I'm also on the Web! http://www.pagesz.net/~legeros/
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