Boycott (2001)

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This HBO films project seems like it's destined to be shown during civil rights units in American middle and high schools, though I fear it'll put the kids to sleep. I really enjoyed how artsy it was; director Clark Johnson plays with POV shots and has bystander characters voice their thoughts directly to the camera during certain moments in the film. There's some tricks with light bloom and flashbacks (including the brief depiction of a lynching victim swinging from a tree) as well, all in the name of providing broader racial and historical context to what is otherwise a tightly-focused character ensemble - until the final third, that is.I found the backroom deals, conversations and negotiations between the members of the burgeoning Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the all-white town councillors and commissioners to be fascinating. I was unfamiliar with most of these real-life figures except Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, as I suspect many viewers will be. The actors and actresses are universally outstanding; I'm a big fan of CCH Pounder and was initially drawn to the film due to her involvement, though unfortunately her character of Jo Ann Robinson has less and less to do as the film goes on. The film is worth watching for Reg E. Cathey's performance as E.D. Nixon alone: he is fierce, stubborn and driven, with an often fractious relationship with the other members of the MIA. Erik Dellums steals all of his scenes as Bayard Rustin, a gay left-leaning activist who advises Dr. King in the last leg of the film and who in real life was a fascinating character - he totally deserves his own movie. (Fun fact: Dellums would later play a creepy philosophizing "doctor" who gets Damian Lewis addicted to heroin in an episode of Homeland that was also directed by Clark Johnson).Ultimately, the film's focus grows narrower and narrower until it's mostly about Dr. King (Jeffrey Wright) and his wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo, who would reprise this role in 2014's Selma). That's fine, but the film loses a bit of the ensemble spark that it began with. This story desperately needs to be revisited, especially since the court ruling that ended segregation on buses in Alabama - where this film ends - was in reality the beginning of even more white backlash, from bombings to black people including a pregnant woman being sniped, to people feeling so scared that they still rode in the back of the bus anyways. That's also a story that needs to be told.

I use movies as an adjunct to English class in a remote part of India. I like to show movies from different parts of the world or where students will also learn something about history or cultures, so I bought this movie sight unseen. I'm sure it's a great movie, but for my students it was much too slow moving and they started to lose interest. I was disappointed about that since I find this episode in history so exciting, but that's how it went in my class. If you use "Boycott" in an ESL class, be sure to give the background to the history beforehand. Don't worry about the accents -- they are clear, and the dialog is clear and slow enough, but a lot of background knowledge s required.

"Boycott" is beautifully filmed. I love the fact that it doesn't focus only on Dr. Kings' life and "I Have a Dream" speech like most films/documentaries tend to focus on. It also didn't focus on Rosa Parks either. The movie is truly about the struggle of the boycott. One can really learn a lot about the movement. I never would have guessed Jeffrey Wright could play Dr. King so well. Dr. King's speeches are delivered very well by Wright. Very convincing. And Terrence Howard...woo..he's attractive and a very good actor...and very attractive.Just splendid.

"Boycott" tells the story of a pivotal time in the history of a young republic still bleeding from civil war. The famous mid-50's bus boycott of Montgomery which launched the modern American civil rights movement is presented with restraint and an obvious commitment to truth over drama. The film is a well crafted integration of story, real and fabricated file footage, quick vignettes of blacks and whites expressing sentiments of the time, and an interesting wandering between color and black and white all serving to keep the sense of history alive and to prevent the viewer from becoming inured to the magnitude of the issues being presented. Kudos to Wright for an excellent portrayal of a great American leader. A good, entertaining history lesson for all.