It’s hard for critics to give a bad review to a movie like this. It’s such an important story in history. And there’s something about giving a bad review to a movie about Martin Luther King, Jr, Mother Teresa, or in this case – Emmett Till.
The film is emotionally overwrought and heavy-handed. And while I don’t mind them portraying Mamie Till as a saint (and I enjoyed finding out just how much of a civil rights activist she had become), how they portrayed Emmett Till was just so poorly executed.
I certainly think we’ll be seeing Danielle Deadwyler (The Harder They Fall) get some well-deserved nominations for her portrayal of Mamie. And I can see why they cast Jaylyn Hall as Till. He’s got the physically imposing nature of a man, but he’s still a kid. Yet it seemed so bizarre how they have to show him always smiling and upbeat. He had to sing along to every commercial jingle on the radio, every song he heard in the car; even holding his mom’s hand while doing that, because…that’s what most teenagers do, right?
He was always hamming it up (my wife reminded me when I complained about this on the way home, that he often did the singing to help with his stuttering, which I forgot was addressed).
They also went so over-the-top with showing how much his mom loved him. So much so, that it felt Oedipal at times. Look, we’re always going to feel sad and think it’s horrific if a woman has a son that is murdered – you don’t have to go so overboard showing how close they were, thinking that will make it even harder to take. Instead, it just makes us wonder why she even let him go to Mississippi; or how she can even date again after losing her husband, when she’s so wrapped up with her son. Nothing about their relationship felt realistic.
Now, I was under the impression the last few years that Emmett never actually whistled at shopkeeper Carolyn Bryant (Haley Bennnett) and she merely lied about it which led to his lynching. This movie shows him telling her she looks like a movie star (nothing wrong with that), and when he leaves the store, he whistles at her like it’s a compliment. He looks proud of himself while his cousins want to scatter. Interestingly, I found something online that said Mamie taught him to whistle to help with his stuttering.
Emmett was staying with his uncle Mose Wright (John Douglas Thompson) and bunks with cousins. One of them tries to warn him about some things, and about how he needs to lay-low when they’re out and about.
We watch as scenes go back to Mamie, who can hardly work or play cards with her friends, because she’s missing her son so much. Again, why let him go then?
It was interesting to find out there were a few African-American’s involved in Emmett’s abduction. I also thought it was heartbreaking to see how Uncle Moses tried to handle things, and the fight that ensued later with his sister, for why he didn’t grab his gun and defend her son. I wish the movie had more of those moments. I also wished they had fleshed out some characters a bit more – the very supportive boyfriend and Emmett’s grandmother (Whoopie Goldberg). They were there merely to show support, and more of their stories needed to be shown. Especially when you’re giving us a movie that’s two hours and 10 minutes long. I was a bit surprised that the grandmother was always at the house (before Emmett left), yet she had to walk home alone at night, or tell the boyfriend, “Mamie will see you tomorrow” as if her daughter is still a teen girl living under her roof. At that point, she had been married twice, and dated often.
It was interesting to see how Mamie was being portrayed, by both the NAACP and jurors – a widow that was dating. Finding out what happened to her and Mobley at the end brought tears of joy to my eyes. He just seemed like such a rock for her in what are times nobody can possibly fathom.
The closing credits also frustrate us by showing the two that were charged, got a pig payday from Life Magazine, where they confessed to the murder. Yet it didn’t say that that community wasn’t kind to them after the incident. We only know that Bryant lost his store, since most of the customers were Black.
I just complained about the close-ups in the new George Clooney movie, and the long ones here didn’t work. One of them shows Deadwyler fluttering her eyes for like 15 seconds. It was odd. We also needed the film to be paced better.
Cinematographer Bobby Bukowski really brought many scenes to life, and the colors of Marci Rodgers' costume design were great. The score (Abel Korzeniowski) was a bit much, although when she’s confronting her brother for not using his gun – it perfectly added to the tension.
There’s a scene where Medgar Evers (Tosin Cole) is introduced that was powerful.
I did wonder when, Mamie using the help of the NAACP, everyone meeting her were saying “I’m so honored to meet you” instead of “I’m sorry for your loss.”
This movie also had one of those pet peeves of mine in courtroom scenes. That’s when something is said on the stand, and all the jurors and onlookers all start murmuring immediately. Get out of here with that.
The movie falls into genre tropes and is so heavy-handed. It all made me wonder – who is this movie for? We all know the story, and people that don’t, should read about it. I’m not sure of the point in making a film like this that’s not an easy watch.
2 stars out of 5.