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RosewoodRating:
Release Date: 03 February, 2004 Retail Price: $14.96 OUR Price: $9.99 You SAVE: $4.97! Cast: Complete Cast (15 total) |
Rosewood Reviews
Tragic history, great story.
Based on a true story of a historic outbreak of racist violence, "Rosewood" is a compelling movie even without the social significance. The storyline is basically that a white woman falsely accuses a black man of rape, causing a whole town to go nuts. Certain of the white citizens form a mob to administer "justice" and end up on a rampage, while 2 men try to hide the black citizens of the town and help them escape.
"Rosewood" has many of the same emotional elements (heroism, cowardice, hatred, loss of control vs. disciplined honor, plenty of emotional tension) of "Schindler's List" or the old version of "Titanic," "A Night to Remember." Director John Singleton keeps the action moving, by keeping the more sensitive scenes short, and actually increasing their impact by his brevity.
John Voight is very believable as a reluctant hero, playing a shopkeeper who risks losing everything to help the terrified women and children of the town. Ving Rhames does a good job as a black man returned from war who serve's as Voight's conscience and handles the action scenes.
A surprise stand-out is Bruce McGill (D-Day in Animal House, the sheriff in My Cousin Vinny) as the "leader" of the white mob. McGill is convincing as one of the most disgusting characters I've ever seen on film. He brings out the truly foul nature of hate, but manages to humanize his character by showing the personal costs of his hate as well as the social forces which led him to it. The result is that you think he actually is the character he portrays. The movie is worth it just for McGill's creepy character.
N_ger is just another word for guilty
Ving Rhames stars as the main character, Mann, a drifter back from the war who decides to settle in what seems to be the perfect town, Rosewood. Rosewood is a town separated by one road. On one side of the road you have the white part of town, which is filled with racial prejudice. The other side of the town there is signs of hope for the African-American families. All the houses, land, and the majority of the businesses are owned by African-Americans. They pay taxes on their homes, and they walk the streets with a new sense of pride, and are establishing themselves. When a woman on the white side of town cries rape to protect her adulterous affair from her husband, then blames it on a fugitive black man, this gives the red-neck, hillbilly, white trash all the excuses they need to tear apart everything the black man has built up. Mann, who has left the town so he is not blamed for the rape, needs to return to Rosewood and aid the surviving women and children. He is assisted by the one good white man in the city, a humble store owner played by Jon Voight.
"Colored folks own all the land around here, all the businesses too. Except the one owned by Mr. Wright. He's an honest white man, if there ever was one."
John Singleton (Boyz n the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning, Shaft, 2 Fast 2 Furious, and Baby Boy) does a fantastic job directing Rosewood. The character development was fantastic. He also utilized Don Cheadle fabulously in this film. Singleton definitely made you feel the racial tension. He also made you feel, through Don Cheadle's character, the pride the black man had in what he, his culture, and his family had accomplished. They were accomplishing great things, they pay taxes like everyone else, why should they be drove from their land like the Indians? Singleton displayed both sides of that argument, leaving vs. staying, perfectly in this film. Everything was laid out masterfully by Singleton.
"You seen anything Aunt Sarah?"
"No, I ain't seen anything Mr. Ellis."
Everything that can be done to make this a great film is done by Mr. Singleton. You want a great story, there is a fantastic story. You want great character development, there is masterful character development. You want a strong plot and them; you may not find a stronger plot and theme that addresses the prejudice in the south that has never been extinct all the way up into today's society. Singleton did an absolute awesome job creating this film, that may be discussing a dark issue, but it is the truth. People need to know what happened, and not forget the dark days in the United States.
"What choice did I have? I'm the sheriff. Where's my badge?"
Rosewood is a classic film. I feel it is extremely underrated, and much like the story, was quickly swept under the carpet. When you think of John Singleton, you think of Boyz n the Hood and Higher Learning. Rosewood belongs in that category. Maybe it is because Boyz n the Hood and Higher Learning is set in a more current era. I think the bigger reason is people want to move on from what happened. I can except that, however, we can not forget what happened. I believe this film belongs in your DVD collection, for the same reason Passion of the Christ is important to watch...it is an important part of history.
"I'm telling you boy, sometimes you have no more sense then some of these horses."
Grade: A
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