Rosewood (1997)

An extremely emotional film. John Singleton did an excellent job with picture, and Gregory Poirier wrote beautifully with his dialogue. I felt as if the children actors were outstanding beyond belief. Maybe I'm giving this film a biased a review since I'm still excited having just watch it. However, this film is so powerful in it's teachings. It was veracious in it's character reactions and set. You end up hating characters with every fiber in your being, and you end up feeling so proud of those who exude so much courage. I was going to give a nine due to some parts I dubbed too 'Hollywood' for me, however I feel as if this movie's moral lessons have left a mark on my mind. The minuscule 'Hollywood' aspects in no way out-way the brilliance in every other manner.

This movie is based on real tragic events and yes, it has been one of the dark horrific events in American history. But the filmmakers let it slip out of their hands.The movie never managed to touch or move me; in fact, I was mostly distracted by shoddy writing and mediocre acting. It does not take the subject seriously enough and turns it halfway through into a forgettable action flick. Most of all, I do not understand the inclusion of the fictitious character Mann. He is so overblown to the point of caricature and seems to have stepped out of a western.I was not impressed. Other movies like Mississippi Burning have a heart and a clear message to convey. Here the message gets buried under superficial clichés.Those tragic events perhaps need to be taken to the screen again but this time by more skilled and competent hands.Overall disappointing what could have been a movie with a strong statement.

I won't say much, but I'm just a bit disappointed that No One has a website on what ever happened to the children and grandchildren of the descendants of Rosewood. I know they lived to see retribution, but it seems it is a well kept secret. This DVD was the first DVD I ever purchased and that was years ago. At the time, which was about 1999, the movie sold new for $5 at Walmart. When I purchased it, I had no idea this was a true story. Why? Because I don't usually read info contained on the back of the movie. I like surprises, but was not prepared emotionally for this movie. It was a lot like so many true stories regarding this country and Black Americans. I used to watch westerns as a child, but because of the false hood regarding the Indians as the bad guys, I simply can't enjoy them anymore. However as A comment to this movie, it was Excellent to the point I was crying and was very emotional about it, where I waited till now to watch it again. It is still heartbreaking, and I cried again. This country has not changed much, since the JENNA 6 is new news, and this kind of things is still going on. Crosses are still being burned and someone has the audacity to ask, Does Race Matter. Until we can stop asking that question, it will always matter. As a writer, I must admit, this movie was true to life, not omitting the hard truth of what happened. I'm sure it had to be downplayed a lot, but I got the message, loud and clear. It was an event that happened in the early twenties, and we now live in the year 2008. Today, a Black Man is running for Office as the First Black President of the United States. If it happens, it will be a sign of change, but until this country stops looking at the color of a person's skin and everyone is treated as equals, then not much has changed. Let it just be that a man from Illinois is running for president, not a Black 'MAN' or 'WOMAN'.

Aunt Sarah: N__gger is just another word for guilty.Compelling but deeply flawed, this very interesting tid-bit of history will most likely pull at your heart-strings like a rabid baboon trippin' on LSD. The story is set in a small town named Rosewood in 1920s Florida. It's mostly a black town that borders Hicktown, USA. When a white woman makes up a story about how she was raped by a black man, the majority of the white community gets all crazy, violent and KKK and begin to massacre every black person they lay their eyes on. Ving Rhames, best known for playing Marsellus 'Ass-Raped' Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's innovative masterpiece 'Pulp Fiction', brilliantly portrays Mann. Mann's a bad-ass motherf__cker with a big-ass shotgun and a heart of gold. He helps the black community fend off the racist would-be trailer trash that wants to kill them. The best and most intricate performance of the film comes from Jon Voight who plays a white shop-owner/black sympathizer who finds himself caught in the middle of everything. Don Cheadle also has a small role in which he shines. 'Rosewood' is compelling, graphic and true-to-life, but the film suffers from tediously cliché plot turns and some cheesy if not bland dialogue. All in all, it's a pretty good film that if not anything else will teach you about a little-known but extremely devastating racist massacre that took place on American soil some 80 years ago. Grade: B