Good Focus, Some Breakthrough Acting

Rating: 7/10 (15 February 2015)

A chronicle of Martin Luther King's campaign to secure equal voting rights via an epic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.
Whether or not the film is completely historically accurate is open to debate. Particularly the portrayal of Lyndon Johnson. But this is not necessarily the point of a film... if it gets people to look into civil rights history more, good for everyone involved! The portrayal of King is excellent. Not just the acting (which is superb), but its fairness. It is all too easy to show him as a martyr or a saint. This film did neither. By avoiding his assassination and actually bringing up his infidelity, he comes across as very human, and someone who accomplished great things despite his personal failings.
This is also a breakout role for Tim Roth. Although best known for "Reservoir Dogs", Roth is a top notch actor and he proves it here as the villain. The Oscar buzz is around the failure to nominate Ava DuVernay as director, but perhaps Roth should be looked at again for supporting actor.