A bit too much of the myth and not enough of the man...

Rating: 6/10 (20 June 2020)

It's really important, I think, not to mistake criticism of this rather run-of-the-mill drama with the actual achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King. Any re-telling of his story to new audiences especially to those who have (or had) no experience of just how African American's were practically, if not so much politically, treated has got to serve as a reminder that what we take for granted, we lose - and, like so many other hard fought rights and freedoms we must all continue to value them and work to ensure nobody is ever discriminated against - for any reason... This film, however, is really nothing special. The dramatic elements are awkwardly speculative - particularly the alleged conversations between President Johnson and MLK; the cast lacked any ability to engender the charisma and fortitude of their real life counterparts; the dialogue is way too wordy, the scenes too busy - constant camera movement distracting from the message that the film is trying to reinforce and I'm sorry but Tom Wilkinson as LBJ is just a bad casting choice - indeed the whole FBI wire-tapping business is delivered in a way that seems oddly routine and un-sinister. It is difficult to put together a decent biopic of such a visionary man and not let it slide into an overly-appreciative mire of sentimental mediocrity - and Ava DuVernay was possibly just too close to the subject matter to be remotely objective. It is an at times a rousing, but mostly a pedestrian effort.