Decent biopic, but definitely not a classic

Rating: 6/10 (12 February 2018)

This was a good biopic and apparently faithful to the source material, which is to its credit.
However one can't read the over-abundance of gushing praise this has received from the professionals without getting just a whiff of politics and insincerity.
This is a good movie, but not a great one. Not one I'll remember much from in 5 years from now, for that matter. Good performances and some intense scenes, but just not enough there to call it a classic or anything.
Not enough work was done on Solomon's character prior to his enslavement. Just an additional 3-4 minutes or so of showing his personality whilst living his normal family life would have gone a long way towards building more sympathy throughout the picture. As it happens his character was bland and underdeveloped. Whatever 'groundbreaking' or 'daring' type of story you're trying to tell, the basics of storytelling still apply; in this instance, that's routine character-building.
The constant excess of the evil-doing of the slave-owners was too much. Of course some will say that's the point of the movie, but the point was more than well made. At times this veered into the realms of torture porn and that's not what I go to the movies for.
There were too many lingering shots of Solomon and/or the surrounding scenery during this movie. One or two would have been acceptable, but it literally felt like 2-3 minutes could have been trimmed off the film by dispensing with some of this overly-indulgent cinematography. Did I really need to see the poor fellow hanging from a tree for as long as I did? The point was already well made.
Whenever I watch a film, I like to ponder why it was made. This film clearly wasn't made to tell an interesting story, as it really wasn't that intriguing a plot. Man gets sold into slavery and gets out 12 years later after sending a letter. I can only deduce that the film was made to faithfully present a biopic, to drive home the horrors of slavery and, far worse, to attempt to make white folk feel a sense of shame for their history.
I can always appreciate a good biopic but do we really, in the 21st century, need a reminder of the injustices of slavery? That is a portion of history that everyone is well aware of, regrets and never wants to see a return of. If the filmmakers wanted white folk to feel ashamed of their history, as I strongly suspect they did, then that is an appalling and insulting reason to make a movie. And it's a form of exploitation that absolutely should not be rewarded with a Best Picture Oscar.
I feel shame when I think of the gross injustice of slavery and the millions of lives it's ruined, but I don't want or need a film to reinforce that for two long, gory hours. I don't want or need a movie to tell me how to think or feel; such is the social justice warrior world of the 21st century that we live in that filmmakers now seem to see that as one of their basic rights.