There are lots of things to criticize here. Too much overt religion. Slow moving story. The clever idea of paralleling the story of slaves to the story of hymns. Weak plot.
But if the story of slavery in America is a huge jigsaw puzzle little understood by today's Americans, then this film has a few jigsaw pieces to consider. For example, we don't learn often enough today about the Underground Railway, and that is a key part of this film. Some of its methods are highlighted here, including the role played by Quakers. There are some heart rending scenes here which will be distasteful to many, but which only scratch the surface of the immense cruelty these humans suffered, particularly in the voyage to America.
There are some detours here that were distracting and added little to the story. For example the theatrical segment was just so out of place. And the whole flashback in time aspect of the story...well, I think it sounded better on paper than it turned out on the screen.
Cuba Gooding had so little dialog here it's almost funny, He's an actor that started out with real promise, but made many poor project choices. His gravelly voice is beginning to be a problem.
As a film, this movie is an almost epic failure. Its value lies only in certain images that burn into your mind even more the evils of slavery and what Black men, women AND CHILDREN endured.
On a personal note, I was interested in one aspect of this film -- that part of it took place in Woodbridge, Virginia, the area in which I lived my last few years in the state.
But if the story of slavery in America is a huge jigsaw puzzle little understood by today's Americans, then this film has a few jigsaw pieces to consider. For example, we don't learn often enough today about the Underground Railway, and that is a key part of this film. Some of its methods are highlighted here, including the role played by Quakers. There are some heart rending scenes here which will be distasteful to many, but which only scratch the surface of the immense cruelty these humans suffered, particularly in the voyage to America.
There are some detours here that were distracting and added little to the story. For example the theatrical segment was just so out of place. And the whole flashback in time aspect of the story...well, I think it sounded better on paper than it turned out on the screen.
Cuba Gooding had so little dialog here it's almost funny, He's an actor that started out with real promise, but made many poor project choices. His gravelly voice is beginning to be a problem.
As a film, this movie is an almost epic failure. Its value lies only in certain images that burn into your mind even more the evils of slavery and what Black men, women AND CHILDREN endured.
On a personal note, I was interested in one aspect of this film -- that part of it took place in Woodbridge, Virginia, the area in which I lived my last few years in the state.