Would have left the movie theatre if I could have.

Rating: 2/10 (14 February 2014)

A true story, made into something not real. I could not get into the movie at all. When I watch a movie I like to be captivated and taken in for the ride. So much of it was so bad that it jarred. When slaves were supposed to be digging a paddock they were just tapping hoes on the ground. When slaves were cotton picking they were just playing with the cotton. All the slaves were over weight, and wore clean un-tatty clothes. Quite often the actors looked as though they were uncomfortable doing what they were doing. Those prolonged whipping scenes did not feel real. When he was left hanging, this again did not seem to be at all real. Someone wriggling a bit on the end of a rope. Where was the suspense and drama? Instead an overly long scene. Boring! It could have been a great film. But for me, it did not work at all. It would have been good to hear the story after he was released from slavery. How he tried to prosecute his captors. How he became an anti slavery campaigner. I do understand how for a lot of Americans this is the first time they have seen how slaves were treated in their country, but compared to Django Unchained, which was a great movie, this was awful.