Selma

This review may contain spoilers!

To the people who are beginning to say black civil rights films are getting boring you are so damn wrong. I would give Selma an 8.5/10.

The writing for this film was stupendous, an incredible balance of African American history and experience as well as the responsibility of white culture to support civil rights. This film wasn't able to use MLK's original speeches but you could never have known from how masterfully the dialogues and speeches were written. Beyond this the film's musical score as well as the original song 'Glory' go a long way to creating the powerful atmosphere that impacts each scene so strongly; expect this music to carry you to some intense emotions while watching this moving film.

David Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King Jr, was incredibly powerful in his performance; his speeches were moving and inspirational. Oprah Winfrey, who played Annie Lee Cooper, played a character who looked so tired and downtrodden by the white bureaucratic system that when we saw her intense displays of anger we could see the justification in her actions. Andre Holland, who played Andrew Young, gave a strong minor role performance. Ruben Santiago-Hudson, who played Bayard Rustin, was very witty and humourous, yet he also had some powerful chemistry with Oyelowo. Colman Domingo, who played Ralph Abernathy, gave a great performance in his role, and had a couple of scenes where he really stood out. Common, who played James Bevel, really gave a firm and kind portrayal in his softer spoken role. Wendell Pierce, who played Rev. Hosea Williams, gave an incredibly strong performance, the assault upon the bridge was one of his most memorable scenes. Stephan James, who played John Lewis, was quite petulant in his initial performance but really developed his character to be a powerful supporter by the end of the film. Henry G. Sanders, who played Cager Lee, was one of the most heartbreaking characters to watch; the loss of his son was felt by all who watched this film. Tim Roth, who played Gov. George Wallace, was an incredibly sickening character to watch; the racism he allowed into his politics was disgusting to see unfold. Nigel Thatch, who played Malcolm X, in one brief cameo of the film was nothing short of terrific; he really captured the role.

Yet of all the performances within Selma it was Tom Wilkinson's portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson that really stood out in this film. Now ultimately I think it's a bit contradictory for me to pick the white guy as the best actor out of an incredible African American dominated film, however I think what Wilkinson did with President Johnson was worth noting. Johnson started the film as being quite ignorant, not seeing that there was still a lot to be done about civil rights, yet by the very end of the film he is giving a speech to all of America about the damage done to African Americans by denying them basic voting rights. He had fantastic chemistry with Oyelowo and Roth. In fact his scene with Roth where he chose to be a supporter of King rather than a politician like Wallace was one of the best scenes of the film.

The cinematography and editing within Selma wasn't very imaginative or stylised, it was quite basic and blocky which didn't help with it's pacing issues, To expand upon that the story itself was very slow, there was no sense of urgency or action within the film.

Carmen Ejogo, who played Coretta Scott King, was a character without much purpose; she was molded to be a counter character to Oyelowo's Martin Luther and she never really aimed any higher than that in her performance. Giovanni Ribisi, who played Lee White, had no screen presence and was overshadowed by every other actor in the scenes he was in. Lorraine Toussaint, who played Amelia Boynton, was a sharp character; she was hard to like and her chemistry with other characters wasn't really there. Trai Byers, who played James Forman, felt like a side character; he had a wooden performance and little screen presence.