Extra Smooth

I wanted to love this film so much because the Emmett Till tragedy was such a watershed moment in black history. I mean when they asked Rosa Parks why she didn't give up her seat on the bus to white people she replied because of Emmett Till. "All I could think about was poor Emmett Till" she replied. So Till was a monumental moment for black people. There was so much material to work with but I felt the film only scratched the surface in exploring the oppression that blacks lived under and the hatred of blacks by whites in 1950s Missisippi and the deep south in general. I think the film should have explored this in far greater depth to set the scene and context for Emmett's murder. I wanted to feel more intensity and sense the moment a lot more than the film afforded me. The standard bearer for this kind of film has to be the incredibly harrowing "Mississippi Burning" which left the viewer in disbelief, shock, disgust and exhaustion. This film didn't come anywhere close to that. They were just acting out a story without really bringing alive. I thought the lead role was beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. She deserved a better script and movie because she had the depth of feeling of a grieving mother nailed down to a Tee. She had a powerhouse performance in her but was let down by the lack of dramatisation. The film almost felt rushed, like they needed to cram a lot into the time allotted but in so doing it just felt under cooked and lacked gravitas. It really fell flat to me. I don't know I might be wrong but it didn't take you with it. I just felt like I was looking in from the outside rather than on a journey with. I hope someone else will remake Emmett and Mamie Till's story. I think it deserves a much heavier interpretation.