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Submitted by cinemascope on Sat, 2006-04-29 06:52. :: Contemporary
Movie title:
Freedomland
Starring:
Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco
Directed by:
Joe Roth
Written by:
Richard Price
Genre:
Crime/Drama/Thriller
Year:
2006
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Runtime:
113 minutes
Imdb:
Rating:
Synopsis
When a distraught woman from a blue-collar white community (Moore) turns up in a neighbouring black community claiming she's been car-jacked, Detective Lorenzo Council (Jackson) must get to the bottom of the case while also attempting to contain the simmering racial tensions between the neighbouring towns.
When a distraught woman from a blue-collar white community (Moore) turns up in a neighbouring black community claiming she's been car-jacked, Detective Lorenzo Council (Jackson) must get to the bottom of the case while also attempting to contain the simmering racial tensions between the neighbouring towns.
Review
Richard Price adapts from his own bestselling novel, but what may have worked on the page most certainly does not on celluloid: this is a bit of a mess. You can see what appealed to the two stars: both get long emotional speeches and Moore in particular has to maintain an emotional intensity for almost the entire length of the movie - she's perpetually in tears. Fundamentally though, Freedomland has only the most trite observations to make about race, and the mystery that lies at the heart of the story isn't compelling enough to make the journey worthwhile. Two final points: 1) It's a bit difficult to buy the WASPish Julianne Moore as white trash, and 2) Samuel L. Jackson does at one point exclaim 'Tell the DA he can kiss my black ass!', which must surely by now be written into his contract as an obligatory line.
Richard Price adapts from his own bestselling novel, but what may have worked on the page most certainly does not on celluloid: this is a bit of a mess. You can see what appealed to the two stars: both get long emotional speeches and Moore in particular has to maintain an emotional intensity for almost the entire length of the movie - she's perpetually in tears. Fundamentally though, Freedomland has only the most trite observations to make about race, and the mystery that lies at the heart of the story isn't compelling enough to make the journey worthwhile. Two final points: 1) It's a bit difficult to buy the WASPish Julianne Moore as white trash, and 2) Samuel L. Jackson does at one point exclaim 'Tell the DA he can kiss my black ass!', which must surely by now be written into his contract as an obligatory line.
