God this movie was a depressing slog. I could only watch it in five minute increments so it took me damn near a month to finish it. The story is about two Mississippi families working the same land. One is a family of black tenant farmers, desperate to escape the endless cycle of poverty by eventually owning the land they've worked for a century. The other is a formerly affluent white family who were suckered into becoming farmers, despite not knowing anything about agriculture. Both sent a man to fight in WWII. Jamie McAllen (Garrett Hedlund), the smooth-talking younger brother of the white family, and Ronsel Johnson (Jason Mitchell), the oldest son of the black family. Both come back with serious mental scars and new perspectives. They bond, first as a coping mechanism, then as friends. But you can't be friends with people of color in segregated 1940s Mississippi and Jamie's father (Jonathan Banks) is a virulent racist and all-around mean son-of-a-bitch.
If you know anything about the history of African Americans in the south you know exactly what happens, although the film does try very hard to put a hopeful ending to it. There are some phenomenal performances here from Mary J. Blige as Ronsel's mother, Hedlund, and a stellar follow-up from Straight Outta Compton star Mitchell. If you've only ever seen Banks as the grumpy but lovable Mike Ehrmantraut on Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul (like I have), this performance is going to come as a shock.
Look, I'm not saying you shouldn't watch this movie. I'm just saying that if you choose to do so, prepare for a real downer of a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment