A tale of the Civil Rights movement, told in a way no textbook ever could.

Rating: 9/10 (19 July 1999)

Populated with a cast of some of the heaviest hitters in Hollywood, this film is incredibly powerful. It never pulls a punch from frame one...you feel every bit of fear, anger, pain, frustration and outrage that radiates from the screen. Hackman and Dafoe are remarkable as the two FBI agents Ward and Anderson...the tension between them is completely believable. Yet the most outstanding performances are given by two of the finest chameleon actors around; Frances McDormand (who garnered an Oscar for this film) and Brad Dourif (Oscar nominee for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), both of whom are so complete in their work that it actually takes a moment to recognize them--you forget they are actors. This cast managed to tell a difficult story about a difficult time and never once did the characters become caricatures.
Look also for a moving performance by a young Darius McCrary who later became Eddie Winslow of Family Matters fame.