igofast
02-17-2006, 01:46 PM
By DAVID GERMAIN, AP Movie Writer Fri Feb 17, 10:34 AM ET
"Freedomland" clearly was an IMPORTANT film for Joe Roth — so important that the esteemed Hollywood executive decided he had to direct it himself.
Sadly for Roth and stars Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, "Freedomland" will be inconsequential to audiences. The movie has nothing insightful to say about the social issues it tackles — racial unrest, police authoritarianism, the tragic outcomes that can arise from the pressures of single parenting.
A story that tries and fails in its examination of meaningful matters should at least be decent drama. But "Freedomland" is an exercise in bleakness and tedium occasionally broken up by shrill clashes between the two leads and poorly staged, stereotypical confrontations between white cops and black citizens.
Former Disney and 20th Century Fox studio boss Roth is the founder of Revolution Studios, whose films include "Black Hawk Down," "Anger Management" and Roth's last directing effort, "America's Sweethearts."
more (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060217/ap_en_re/film_review_freedomland;_ylt=AiVwXsCVcNq44QuNHMsau CVxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)
"Freedomland" clearly was an IMPORTANT film for Joe Roth — so important that the esteemed Hollywood executive decided he had to direct it himself.
Sadly for Roth and stars Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore, "Freedomland" will be inconsequential to audiences. The movie has nothing insightful to say about the social issues it tackles — racial unrest, police authoritarianism, the tragic outcomes that can arise from the pressures of single parenting.
A story that tries and fails in its examination of meaningful matters should at least be decent drama. But "Freedomland" is an exercise in bleakness and tedium occasionally broken up by shrill clashes between the two leads and poorly staged, stereotypical confrontations between white cops and black citizens.
Former Disney and 20th Century Fox studio boss Roth is the founder of Revolution Studios, whose films include "Black Hawk Down," "Anger Management" and Roth's last directing effort, "America's Sweethearts."
more (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060217/ap_en_re/film_review_freedomland;_ylt=AiVwXsCVcNq44QuNHMsau CVxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--)