Great performances in great movie

Rating: 9/10 (20 October 2014)

It's 1964 Mississippi. Three young civil rights workers are murdered. The FBI has sent two men to investigate. Agent Alan Ward (Willem Dafoe) is straight laced, idealist, 3 years in the bureau, and put in charge of this investigation. Agent Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) is the easy going, jovial veteran with a better sense of the world they're getting into. He used to be a small town sheriff near Memphis. None of the locals are willing to help. Anderson befriends deputy Pell (Brad Dourif)'s wife (Frances McDormand).
This is a great historical drama. It's definitely fictionalized which probably irked many people for different reasons. I don't mind the differences in the minutia of history as long as the feeling of realism is maintained. That is well achieved in this movie. The best have to be the two great performances of two great actors. They are perfection.