"Son Of the South" (202o release; 105 min.) is "Based On a True Story" we are reminded. As the film opens. it is "1961, Combs, Mississippi" and it looks like the protagonist (Bob Zellner) is about to be hung by an angry mob of white guys. We then go to "5 Months Earlier", when we are in Montgomery, AL. Zellner and several other seniors of the local college are doing their senior thesis on race relations, and want to interview Rosa Parks, who just 5 years earlier started the Mongomery Bus Boycott. Word gets around what Zellner is doing, and before you know it, the local college wants to expel him. Meanwhile the Freedome Riders, led by John Lewis, are approaching Montgomery in a Greyhound bus... At this point we are less than 15 min. into the movie.
Couple of comments: this is written and directed by Barry Alexander Brown, a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee, who himself Executive-Produced this. The script is based on Beb Zellner's autobiograhy "The Wrong Side of Murder Creek". Let me state upfron that the movie addresses vitally important social and human rights issues, which I fully support of course. But does that make it a good movie to watch? Alas, it does not. Almost from the get-go, the movie feels awkwardly staged and unnatural, and you can almost see and feel the director going "and... ACTION!". Lucas Till plays the grown up Bob, and Brian Dennehy has a small role as Bob's grandfather and Klansman. At no time does the movie convey the massive societal and social changes that vibrate through the South and the rest of the country, and at no time did I feel any connection to the characters in the film, be it the good guys or the bad guys. One of the key scenes of the film is the violence that awaits the Freedom Riders in Montgomery. What should've been a shocking scene, felt like a Broadway stage play instead. I will admit that I struggled making it through the end of the film, but I did. Bottom line, though, is that there are far better movies out there dealing with these topics. For starters, check out the recent documentary "MLK/FBI", last year's documentary "John Lewis: Good Trouble", and of course the outstanding "Selma" of a few years ago, among many others.
"Son of the South" premiered at last summer's American Black Film Festival, and the movie opened this weekend in select theaters (and also on VOD). The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so (5 people to be exact, including myself), which is par for the course for theatrical releases as the pandemic rages on. The rest of the theater complex resembled a ghost town. I don't know how these theaters can operate profitably. Meanwhile, if you have any interest in the civil rights movement of the early 60s, and as long as you keep your expectations low, I'd suggest you check ou "Son of the South", be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: this is written and directed by Barry Alexander Brown, a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee, who himself Executive-Produced this. The script is based on Beb Zellner's autobiograhy "The Wrong Side of Murder Creek". Let me state upfron that the movie addresses vitally important social and human rights issues, which I fully support of course. But does that make it a good movie to watch? Alas, it does not. Almost from the get-go, the movie feels awkwardly staged and unnatural, and you can almost see and feel the director going "and... ACTION!". Lucas Till plays the grown up Bob, and Brian Dennehy has a small role as Bob's grandfather and Klansman. At no time does the movie convey the massive societal and social changes that vibrate through the South and the rest of the country, and at no time did I feel any connection to the characters in the film, be it the good guys or the bad guys. One of the key scenes of the film is the violence that awaits the Freedom Riders in Montgomery. What should've been a shocking scene, felt like a Broadway stage play instead. I will admit that I struggled making it through the end of the film, but I did. Bottom line, though, is that there are far better movies out there dealing with these topics. For starters, check out the recent documentary "MLK/FBI", last year's documentary "John Lewis: Good Trouble", and of course the outstanding "Selma" of a few years ago, among many others.
"Son of the South" premiered at last summer's American Black Film Festival, and the movie opened this weekend in select theaters (and also on VOD). The Friday early evening screening where I saw this at was attended so-so (5 people to be exact, including myself), which is par for the course for theatrical releases as the pandemic rages on. The rest of the theater complex resembled a ghost town. I don't know how these theaters can operate profitably. Meanwhile, if you have any interest in the civil rights movement of the early 60s, and as long as you keep your expectations low, I'd suggest you check ou "Son of the South", be it in the theater (if you still can), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.