More than any other film nominated this year, Selma has sparked controversy. Coming on the heels of riots in Ferguson, Missouri, as well as media focus and backlash on the treatment of black suspects by white police officers, there was no denying that this movie was a timely reflection of our past and present. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (David Oyelowo) is getting no real traction with the Equal Rights movement, despite the historic march on Washington, D.C. His meetings with President Lyndon B. Johnson (Tom Wilkinson) aren't providing any progress and, unbeknownst to him, the FBI is tracking his every move, even going so far as to harass his family with vaguely threatening phone calls. Dr. King decides to have a march from Selma, AL to the state's capital in Montgomery in order to raise awareness of the lack of voting rights and Jim Crow laws preventing African Americans from participating in their legal voting process. Standing in his way is Alabama governor George Wallace (Tim Roth) and a century of oppression.
I wish I could say this was the Best Picture of the year. Unfortunately, I think the hype surrounding its snub from the Best Actor and Best Director categories can only hurt its chances. It is a good movie, but it is just a little too close in casting to Lee Daniels' The Butler from last year. David Oyelowo does a phenomenal job in looking and sounding like Martin Luther King, but that's not enough to make up for the fact that the plot is trying to pull together too many elements instead of focusing on just one or two.
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