Robyn Lively is fantastic as tough-but-vulnerable Charlie, reeling from the disappearance of her daughter, but the storyline lets her down
With this small-town gothic murder mystery director and co-writer Lauren Fash overdoes it with the missing-kid tropes: a grieving mom fighting for the truth; police corruption; buried secrets; a powerful family controlling the town; rusting pickup trucks; mean dudes with mullets. But there is just about enough psychological complexity in the mix in the shape of the central character Charlie, a gay woman winded by the disappearance of her eight-year-old daughter Lily. Charlie marches about town stapling missing posters to lamp-posts in the midst of an emotional breakdown or maybe even a psychotic episode – hallucinating, seeing her daughter in dark corners.
Set in Georgia in the 1990s, the film opens a year after Lily vanishes. Tough but vulnerable Charlie is played beautifully by character actor Robyn Lively (half-sister of Blake) with a riveting less-is-more stillness.
With this small-town gothic murder mystery director and co-writer Lauren Fash overdoes it with the missing-kid tropes: a grieving mom fighting for the truth; police corruption; buried secrets; a powerful family controlling the town; rusting pickup trucks; mean dudes with mullets. But there is just about enough psychological complexity in the mix in the shape of the central character Charlie, a gay woman winded by the disappearance of her eight-year-old daughter Lily. Charlie marches about town stapling missing posters to lamp-posts in the midst of an emotional breakdown or maybe even a psychotic episode – hallucinating, seeing her daughter in dark corners.
Set in Georgia in the 1990s, the film opens a year after Lily vanishes. Tough but vulnerable Charlie is played beautifully by character actor Robyn Lively (half-sister of Blake) with a riveting less-is-more stillness.
- 11/2/2021
- by Cath Clarke
- The Guardian - Film News
Vincent D’Onofrio asked his Twitter followers on Sunday whether it would be Ok for him to play an “irredeebable racist” in an upcoming project given the current political climate.
“I am going to ask a question to everyone that cares to answer it,” the actor tweeted. “Is Now the right time (considering the world in which live right now) for me to play a real to life characte [sic] who is irredeemable racist in a dramatic series?”
It’s unclear what dramatic series he is considering or why he decided to ask the hive mind for its input. A rep for D’Onofrio did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.
Also Read: Lena Dunham Deletes Tweets About 'French Kissing' Animals
I am going to ask a question to everyone that cares to answer it. I have an opinion which I will not reveal. Is Now the right...
“I am going to ask a question to everyone that cares to answer it,” the actor tweeted. “Is Now the right time (considering the world in which live right now) for me to play a real to life characte [sic] who is irredeemable racist in a dramatic series?”
It’s unclear what dramatic series he is considering or why he decided to ask the hive mind for its input. A rep for D’Onofrio did not immediately respond to request for comment from TheWrap.
Also Read: Lena Dunham Deletes Tweets About 'French Kissing' Animals
I am going to ask a question to everyone that cares to answer it. I have an opinion which I will not reveal. Is Now the right...
- 8/13/2018
- by Jon Levine
- The Wrap
Selma
Written by Paul Webb
Directed by Ava DuVernay
UK / USA, 2014
Selma is a shining example of how to create an informative biographical drama that still packs an emotional wallop. Rather than trying to portray the entire life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, director Ava DuVernay captures the essence of King by wisely focusing on three tumultuous months in his life. David Oyelowo delivers a mesmerizing performance as the civil rights icon, showing us a man whose passion is rivaled only by his intellect and political cunning. Selma takes an unflinching snapshot of American history that, sadly, feels more relevant today than ever before.
Nestled between the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a perilous 13 month period that would forever define America’s cultural identity. Racial segregation was legally dead, but Jim Crow was still alive and well in the American South.
Written by Paul Webb
Directed by Ava DuVernay
UK / USA, 2014
Selma is a shining example of how to create an informative biographical drama that still packs an emotional wallop. Rather than trying to portray the entire life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, director Ava DuVernay captures the essence of King by wisely focusing on three tumultuous months in his life. David Oyelowo delivers a mesmerizing performance as the civil rights icon, showing us a man whose passion is rivaled only by his intellect and political cunning. Selma takes an unflinching snapshot of American history that, sadly, feels more relevant today than ever before.
Nestled between the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was a perilous 13 month period that would forever define America’s cultural identity. Racial segregation was legally dead, but Jim Crow was still alive and well in the American South.
- 1/8/2015
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
'Selma' movie review: Politically salient in the early 21st century and 'beautiful in all the ways of cinema' (photo: David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. in 'Selma') The title of director Ava DuVernay's historical drama Selma tells us what the film is about, while implying what it isn't about. In other words, Selma is not about the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- wonderfully played by British actor David Oyelowo -- even though the reverend is the film's gravitational center and its emotional weight accrues to him. Just like what took place in Selma, Alabama, back in 1965. In fact, Oyelowo's presence is as transfixing as that of the young Ben Kingsley in his transformative interpretation of Gandhi in Sir Richard Attenborough's 1982 titular classic about one of Dr. King's inspirational figures. Unlike Gandhi, however, Selma is a single canvas on which a few months in Dr.
- 1/3/2015
- by Tim Cogshell
- Alt Film Guide
Ava DuVernay's "Selma" is a wonderful film, a moving and powerful tribute to the American civil rights pioneers who helped bring about tremendous changes to their nation. Along with the likes of Nobel Laureate Martin Luther King Jr., a large number of equally committed individuals fought for the rights of their community against injustice.
One of the key participants of that Bloody Sunday that occurred on the Edmund Pettus Bridge was the Reverend Hosea Williams, member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and close associate with Dr. King. In the film he is played by Wendell Pierce, himself a vocal champion for justice and a tremendous talent to boot. As one of the backbone players on shows such as "The Wire" and "Treme," with "Selma" Pierce brings out some of his trademark wit and that exquisite baritone voice.
Moviefone Canada spoke with Pierce about his involvement in the film,...
One of the key participants of that Bloody Sunday that occurred on the Edmund Pettus Bridge was the Reverend Hosea Williams, member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and close associate with Dr. King. In the film he is played by Wendell Pierce, himself a vocal champion for justice and a tremendous talent to boot. As one of the backbone players on shows such as "The Wire" and "Treme," with "Selma" Pierce brings out some of his trademark wit and that exquisite baritone voice.
Moviefone Canada spoke with Pierce about his involvement in the film,...
- 12/31/2014
- by Jason Gorber
- Moviefone
x
Selma Review 1 of 5
Open Gallery
Transformers
Lorem ipsum 1 of 5
Few Americans have been remembered and venerated as greatly as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but Ava DuVernay’s excellent Selma isn’t interested in simply tipping its hat to the legend. Instead, Selma looks closer, to find the real man behind the icon and elegantly put his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement into perspective.
Though King (masterfully portrayed by David Oyelowo) was the face of the nonviolent protests throughout the ’50s and ’60s, he was not the only one to devote (and indeed eventually give) his life to the cause of racial equality, a distinction DuVernay’s film takes great care to make. There were others too, like John Lewis (Stephan James), the young chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Sncc) who led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Bloody Sunday; Annie Lee Cooper...
Selma Review 1 of 5
Open Gallery
Transformers
Lorem ipsum 1 of 5
Few Americans have been remembered and venerated as greatly as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but Ava DuVernay’s excellent Selma isn’t interested in simply tipping its hat to the legend. Instead, Selma looks closer, to find the real man behind the icon and elegantly put his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement into perspective.
Though King (masterfully portrayed by David Oyelowo) was the face of the nonviolent protests throughout the ’50s and ’60s, he was not the only one to devote (and indeed eventually give) his life to the cause of racial equality, a distinction DuVernay’s film takes great care to make. There were others too, like John Lewis (Stephan James), the young chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (Sncc) who led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on Bloody Sunday; Annie Lee Cooper...
- 12/17/2014
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
The civil rights drama Selma is already shooting down in Georgia, and Oprah Winfrey is producing the film that follows the historic 1965 voting rights campaign sparked by Martin Luther King Jr. The cast was just expanded with Tim Roth taking the role of Governor George Wallace, and now The Wrap reports Winfrey herself also has a role in the film. The television giant and Oscar nominee will be playing Annie Lee Cooper, an elderly woman who tried to register to vote and was unfairly denied by Sheriff Jim Clark (played by Stan Houston). Cooper became one of the more prominent leaders amongst the civil rights protesters. The rest of the cast includes David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., Carem Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, Tom Wilkinson as Lyndon B. Johnson, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Fred Gray, Common as James Bevel, Wendell Pierce as Reverend Hosea Williams, Stephen James as John Lewis,...
- 6/11/2014
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Ever since the West Memphis Three were freed from prison last summer by entering Alford pleas, there have been a few different groups scrambling to retell their story on the big screen. Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky already followed the events quite exhaustively with their three Paradise Lost documentaries, but now that there is a definitive conclusion, at least three more adaptations have cropped up. Peter Jackson produced a documentary called West of Memphis that premiered at Sundance earlier this year, and there are now two competing fictional features in development: one directed by Atom Egoyan and the other apparently being produced by Johnny Depp. Egoyan's film, entitled The Devil's Knot, will likely be the first one out of the gate, and this week they have made a slew of casting announcements including their choices for the WM3 themselves. According to Variety, they finally locked down the key role of Damien Echols this week,...
- 6/15/2012
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
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