Movie Review Monday: Selma

IMDB - PG-13

IMDB Blurb:

"A chronicle of Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965."

Trailer:

Review:

I really liked this movie.  I do know about Martin Luther King and how he was the leader of the Civil Rights movement and all the basics about his life but I've never studied him.  How he was just as broken down as the people he was leading and how he had other frustrations and doubts.  It was so nice to see that side of him and have the chance to think of MLK as a person.

I really liked the casting and the acting was superb.  I think they could have easily ruined the movie if they hadn't done the casting right but everyone looked and sounded their part.

During the movie, there were these little subtitle things that would come up at each of the important events and say who was there, what time it was, and note that it was logged in some official record book.  I liked those for the most part although sometimes they weren't placed very well and covered up purposeful moments by distracting you.  For the most part though, they were very helpful in showing that they really do know most of what was happening so this isn't all witnesses remembering or guesses.

At the end of the movie, they displayed those things that show what happened to each of the characters after King's famous speech at the capitol building.  There was one for George Wallace (governor of Alabama at the time) and how he tried unsuccessfully for president four times and was partially paralyzed after an assassination attempt later.  My dad pointed out (I didn't know this but I spent some time looking it up) that while Wallace was opposed to African American rights then, he changed his views later.  The movie just implied he was basically hated by the American Public for the rest of his life and that isn't really true.

I did love how during the march from Selma to Montgomery that they inserted some actual footage from the march.  It made it so much more real and emphasized what a big victory this was.

The Final Verdict:
A very informative movie with an stellar cast and a magnificent soundtrack.  Some things tended to be distracting and there were some things implied about George Wallace that I don't think are necessarily true but all around good movie.
4.5 stars


Quotes:
"Our lives are not fully lived if we're not willing to die for those we love, for what we believe."


"I'll be damned if history puts me with the likes of you."


"What happens when a man says enough is enough?"


"Selma it is."


"And we shall overcome."