Waste of time

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

This HBO films project seems like it's destined to be shown during civil rights units in American middle and high schools, though I fear it'll put the kids to sleep. I really enjoyed how artsy it was; director Clark Johnson plays with POV shots and has bystander characters voice their thoughts directly to the camera during certain moments in the film. There's some tricks with light bloom and flashbacks (including the brief depiction of a lynching victim swinging from a tree) as well, all in the name of providing broader racial and historical context to what is otherwise a tightly-focused character ensemble - until the final third, that is.I found the backroom deals, conversations and negotiations between the members of the burgeoning Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the all-white town councillors and commissioners to be fascinating. I was unfamiliar with most of these real-life figures except Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, as I suspect many viewers will be. The actors and actresses are universally outstanding; I'm a big fan of CCH Pounder and was initially drawn to the film due to her involvement, though unfortunately her character of Jo Ann Robinson has less and less to do as the film goes on. The film is worth watching for Reg E. Cathey's performance as E.D. Nixon alone: he is fierce, stubborn and driven, with an often fractious relationship with the other members of the MIA. Erik Dellums steals all of his scenes as Bayard Rustin, a gay left-leaning activist who advises Dr. King in the last leg of the film and who in real life was a fascinating character - he totally deserves his own movie. (Fun fact: Dellums would later play a creepy philosophizing "doctor" who gets Damian Lewis addicted to heroin in an episode of Homeland that was also directed by Clark Johnson).Ultimately, the film's focus grows narrower and narrower until it's mostly about Dr. King (Jeffrey Wright) and his wife Coretta (Carmen Ejogo, who would reprise this role in 2014's Selma). That's fine, but the film loses a bit of the ensemble spark that it began with. This story desperately needs to be revisited, especially since the court ruling that ended segregation on buses in Alabama - where this film ends - was in reality the beginning of even more white backlash, from bombings to black people including a pregnant woman being sniped, to people feeling so scared that they still rode in the back of the bus anyways. That's also a story that needs to be told.

In the thirty-three years since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death, his life has taken on an almost mythical status. The result is that people often forget that he was a real living and breathing man. He was a person who loved (and made love to) his wife. Dr. King was an intelligent man with the gift of oratory, but otherwise ordinary, who suddenly found himself thrust into an extraordinary situation. Commend HBO, director Clark Johnson, the screenwriters and the incredible cast for breathing life into the often told story of Dr. King and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Previous films on Dr. King, paint him as an almost superhuman figure -- a saint even. With Boycott, the filmmakers have wisely brought him "down to earth' and reveal Dr. King as a noble, but clearly human being who has feelings and weaknesses. Remember Dr. King was only 26 years old with a young wife and child, when the Montgomery Bus Boycott began. Also significant is that the film explores Dr. King's relationship with his father at the time. All of these elements help to give the film a special power that will resonate with viewers. Jeffrey Wright gives a powerful performance in the lead role than rivals if not surpasses Denzel Washington's performance as Malcolm X. Wright is so riveting, that you actually forget that you are watching a performance. The film's documentary-style approach also gives the film an almost eerie sense of realism. There's also some more subtle touches that help to place the viewer into the period. Some of the most striking were the scenes showing how black passengers were required to pay their bus fare and how they were treated once they got on the bus. Boycott is not a mere "history lesson," but a moving portrait of a time and the role that a people played in improving their quality of life.

This movie was great because it gave you a different perspective on the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I thought the camera work was excellent. It goes between being a staged documentary to a film. It shows the major players of this movement as humans that have real feelings. I like this a lot because we tend to think of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph Abernathy as icons. They are/were people just like me and you. Jeffrey Wright is excellent in this film as MLK. He is a wonderfully, talented actor. Terrence Howard was good and I am glad to see him in a respectable role, finally. The cast was overall well put together. New found respect for the director, Clark Johnson.

Filmed to resemble a documentary, "Boycott" is the story of the 13-month long Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott that resulted from Rosa Parkes' refusal to give up her seat on a city bus for a white man.Jeffery Wright offers a powerful performance as Martin Luther King, Jr. His resemblance to King - both in physical appearance and speaking style - is almost eerie. He is most definitely the highlight of this movie, particularly since no one else in the cast really stands out from the crowd.The film offers a pretty good step by step description of the boycott from a number of angles. It isn't shy about pointing out the power struggle within the black community over control of the boycott in its early days, and it dramatically portrays the extent (and the sheer lunacy) of racist sentiment in the South of that era.The movie suffers, though, from the decision to make it a mock documentary. Among other things, it simply takes itself much too seriously. Movies that pretend to be documentaries generally make neither great movies nor great documentaries. This is no exception. The jerky filming, the constant shifting into black and white for brief periods and for no apparent reason (except perhaps as a racial comment?) and the "interviews" with various characters didn't contribute very much. "Boycott" would have been much better as a straight drama. As it is, it manages to offer some valuable insights into Montgomery's racial problems in the 1950's, it has some truly wonderful music and it is an uplifting reminder that race hatred and violence can be overcome. So it isn't a bad movie; it just never quite seems to hit its stride, and it could have been so much better. It's good, but not great. 6/10.