Well Told. Gripping.

Rating: 8/10 (6 April 2014)

This is based upon a true story.
In 1841, freeman Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), married with children, in New York is kidnapped and sold into Slavery in Louisiana. He is given the name of Platt.
Watching this you may ask yourself: how can people treat people this way? There is a lot of cruelty in here and I think the point is to show us that Slavery was indeed cruel and brutal. White Slave-owners took the claim of Slaves as their property way too seriously. True, there were good Slave-owners and we see one with Benedict Cumberbatch as Ford, but that time didn't last long and even Ford was wary of his Overseers and sells his debt (Platt) to a very cruel Slave-owner: Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).
We see a lot of beatings and we cringe a lot. Yes, this is only a movie, but consider back in those days that things were probably much worse than what we see on the big screen. So think "much worse" when you watch. If you think the beatings were overdone, think again.
The acting all around is good. I thought the best performances in here were by Benedict Cumberbatch as Ford and by Michael Fassbender as Edwin Epps. Fassbender was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and should have gotten it. Ejiofor was nominated for Best Actor and he was okay, but Matthew McConaughey was the buzz saw in DALLAS BUYERS CLUB and it was no contest within this category.
Lupita Nyong'o as Patsey won the award for Best Supporting Actress.
The picture itself won for Best Picture. Did I think it should have won Best Picture? Glad you asked. No it shouldn't have. I thought CAPTAIN PHILLIPS was the better movie. Seems that true, almost true or based upon actual events stories get the nod for an Oscar Nomination. My other choices would have been DALLAS BUYERS CLUB or THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, both based upon true stories. Maybe there should be a True Story category as they seem to have the edge. Hmmm
Sometimes the dialogues reminded me of the TV show DEADWOOD when we heard an almost poetic and most annoying cadence by all the characters all the time. At times in here, the dialogues were too convoluted (read cadenced) especially when a character went on explaining something as when Brad Pitt as Bass talked about coming changes in society. I am saying sometimes the dialogues did not ring true to me. People didn't talk like that. There were other times - and too often - these annoying cadence-laced dialogues were spewed out by other characters.
The Ending (thought you would never get to it) was okay. I mean what else could be expected? He was gone for 12-years and believed dead, and his family had moved on. So no brass band celebration. I thought this Ending was the right touch. (8/10)
Violence: Yes. Sex: Yes. Nudity: yes, male and female. Language: No, soft stuff only and not much of it.