The Best of Enemies

Bissell has made a film where the casting isn’t the only thing that’s “on-the-nose.” The message, where the film’s sympathies lie and its emphasis on the character with the bigger journey to make could earn it some “Green Book” styled blowback.

It’s a surprise and a small wonder, then, when The Best of Enemies starts getting good and pretty much stays that way to the end. This may be an apples/oranges comparison, but: For a true-ish story of racial animus, bone-deep prejudice and the American South in the civil rights era, it’s a better, more nuanced and more interesting feel-good movie than a certain, recent, less interesting Best Picture Academy Award winner we could mention.

Despite the strong performances and more than a few audience-pleasing moments where peace and love triumph over stupidity and bigotry, the film travels such an obvious path and falls into such a predictable rhythm, it doesn’t quite carry the emotional resonance such a powerful true-life story should convey.

Luckily, Henson finds just enough in this thin movie to chew on, and every moment that the actress is on screen feels like we’re glimpsing the promise of a better, different movie to come.

The Best of Enemies tries to remind us that simple solutions might exist if we could open our minds, but it undercuts itself by shortchanging its black female lead and ending on a very maudlin note that lacks punch.

The changes Bissell makes to the story are overly contrived, and the writing and editing are shaky. Most egregiously, Ann’s perspective is completely underwritten, without any personal history and the single humanizing factor of one daughter, who appears only briefly.

This movie isn’t just tone-deaf, it’s ass backwards.

The best movie I have ever seen. Love,kindness and persistence can solve any problem if a ku klux klan member can suddenly start to love black people then so can black people learn to love black people. Youths if today, stop killing each other and love each other. We have been through so much and it pains me so much everytime I hear another black man or woman has been stabbed or killed. Please wake up black people and learn to love again.

Despite a general tendency toward following formula and overstaying its welcome, this tale about an unlikely alliance that arises from worlds apart partners shares messages that we can't seem to get enough of these days. Fine performances by Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell, coupled with a refreshingly balanced script, give life to a story that starts out small and swells to larger issues that we all benefit from learning about. Pay no heed to the smug, cynical critics who have unfairly trashed this one just to show how snide their writing can be.

Durham, NC, 1971: The overt racism that permeates the town comes to a vote, literally, when a charette is established to determine whether to integrate the schools. On one side: the spunky activist (Taraji P. Henson at her frumpiest). On the other: the leader of the local KKK chapter (Sam Rockwell in redneck mode). The series of events unfolds with a genteel style that does little to stoke the flames of outrage. Sure, there are plenty of racist moments, but the uninspired direction, lackadaisical performances and extended length keep this true story of an unlikely friendship from being more than an interesting history lesson.

Typical true story drama that has good intentions but deals with an ordinary and common execution.

The performances in "The Best of Enemies" are great. Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell steal every scene that they're in. That's not the problem here. The problem is that we've seen this sort of story portrayed on the screen about three trillion times and this film doesn't try to do anything different. Another redemption story for a racist white guy? Great! Sure. Give me another. This is the kind of story I look forward to watching at the theater every year. /s