An Important Film about Racial Tension, Political Views and Humanity

Rating: 7/10 (20 January 2017)

Films that deal with civil rights issues can be a touchy subject and Alan Parker's 1988 film about true events was a firestorm for controversy. The film's dark subject matter about violence towards the African-American community in 1963 Mississippi remains an important part of shaped the eventual progress to equality for all races.
The film tells the tale of two federal agents (Gene Hackman as Rupert Anderson and Willem Dafoe as Alan Ward) sent to the Deep South to investigate the disappearance of three civil rights workers (two African- American men and one Caucasian man). What the men find is the roots of corruption run deep in the town as the local lawmen and KKK members attempt to scare Anderson and Ward off, but their reserve steels the agents against the hate they constantly endure.
As the leads, Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe are the voices of reason among the judgmental and horrible characters in the small town their characters are investigating. Hackman plays the loose cannon officer who will bend the rules to get results while Dafoe is the by-the-books and ethical man, but later converts to Hackman's tactics after tensions boil to a breaking point between Anderson and Ward. The actors' chemistry is palpable as they play off each other in tandem from verbal sparring to their eventual physical confrontation, but without losing a mutual respect for how the other handles the investigation.
The narrative is loosely inspired by the actual disappearance and murders of three civil rights workers (as depicted in the film's opening scene). However the movie delves into fiction for the majority of its run-time which does hurt the accuracy of the story. The inaccuracies however do not take away from the gripping power of the story as the movie is more focused on the inherent racism in the South during the 1960s.
The movie's subject matter lent to controversy about the violence depicted against the black community, but the film scored Oscar nominations despite the criticism (however star Gene Hackman grew wary about films with such violence which caused him to withdraw from participating in "Silence of the Lambs" after he had bought the rights).
Do not miss this film, it'll open your mind on what it was like back in an era of civil unrest.