Selma is easily one of the best films to hit the box office this new year. It served many purposes including highlighting the struggle for common human rights, showcasing unity across religious beliefs, and acknowledging the power of standing up for a good cause. Instantly from the beginning of the film til the very end you will be captivated by the unselfishness of the people brave enough to partake in Dr. King’s movement.
To no surprise the acting for this film was spot on and there never once came a time where I said to myself why did this person get this role. Above all things I was actually impressed to see the diversity in the selection of the cast members. You would easily find a few new faces including David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr., Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, André Holland as Andrew Young, and Trai Byers as James Forman. Along side them you could find notable actors and celebrities like Common as James Bevel, Oprah as Annie Lee Cooper, and Cuba Gooding Jr. as Fred Gray.
The story did not go into depth about King’s entire life which was refreshing in a way since we learn about Dr. King so much our entire lives. It’s also rumored that they could not use his notable “I have a dream speech” for the movie as it did not get cleared by the Martin Luther King Jr Estate. But that did not stop the director Ava DuVernay and the talented team of actors from making sure you could feel the emotional times they were living in during the Civil Rights Movement.
The music in this film did not disappoint either as you can find a brief cameo of Ledisi playing Mahalia Jackson singing a comforting church song to him in his time of confusion and pain. The big homie Common could not resist to create a historic anthem for the film with John Legend titled, Glory, which highlights the struggles for equality in the past and present. The nicest touch of it all is during the movie all of the music is fitting with every scene.
Overall I’d have to say Selma is definitely a must see movie. Definitely don’t wait to catch this one at the Redbox or on Netflix’s. With Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and holiday just recently passing I’ll say it’s still not to late to check this film out. With next month being black history month this is a great film to capture the essence of what it was like at a time of segregation, fighting for justice, and a display of unity that not even we can understand at this present time. This is definitely an emotional movie so if you decide to go see this film definitely beware as this is a tearjerker.
Stereo Champion's Approved!
10-
Acting score 10
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Story score 9
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SFX & Music score 9
the only con that came to mind was the lack of “negro spirituals” involved in the actual marches…don’t see how that was left out
I agree with you on that note. They briefly tried to touch on the spirituals during one of the quick marches but definitely did not overkill the film with it like most other Martin Luther King Jr. films we’ve grown to know our entire lives. I wonder if that was intentionally left out by the Director though.