As Good As It Gets

Absolutely the worst movie.

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Sissy Spacek and Whoopi Goldberg put on spectacular performances in this story of the relationship between an affluent woman and her maid in Montgomery, Alabama, during the bus boycott. The movie shows how both women start out filling the roles that society expects of them - a housewife and a servant - but both slowly realize that they have to be more than this. There's no glossing over the rabid racism of many of the people in Montgomery, some of whom believe the Civil Rights Movement to be a commie plot.There's a scene where we hear a suggestion that there might one day be a black person in a position of power. Obviously that's now the case, but racism persists, as do police killings of unarmed blacks. Movies like "The Long Walk Home" will remain relevant as long as these problems continue. I recommend the movie both as a look at the events of the era, and as a look at how these women of different socioeconomic backgrounds turned out to have more in common than they realized.Definitely worth seeing. Watch for an early appearance by Ving Rhames (Marcellus in "Pulp Fiction") as Whoopi Goldberg's husband.

Despite being one of a hundred or so black civil rights movements movies, I think this one did well in a few points that others like it have not. I watched this in U.S. History class and I wasn't expecting much from it. The true story civil rights movement genre is prone to a lot of problems with being biased, unrealistic, and overly dramatic. Also, the movie of this genre I'd seen most recently was Selma Lord Selma (the Disney one, not the one that came out this past winter) and it delivers one the worst possible versions of the civil rights movement. However, The Long Walk Home gave me a pleasant surprise by cutting down on the genre clichés for the most part. It isn't perfect, but there isn't too much to improve on.The primary thing that sets this apart from other black history movies is that it's character driven rather than event driven. Usually the story is weakened by the less cinematically pleasing sequence of historical events that the movie is based on. Here the story was more concentrated onto a few individuals and was driven by their interactions. The only real historical event depicted was the climax with the white mob. This was main thing that made this movie good instead of great for me, because the whole climatic scene felt pretty clichéd. I know that it would have been a big deal and involved a lot of courage, but it still turned me off a bit.The two main characters are Odessa Cotter, the black maid, and her white employer Miriam Thompson. Miriam is probably the more prominent character because of her arc from indifference to support of the boycott. Odessa joins the boycott by walking to work every day and doesn't go through any change, but remains a solid and believable character. Miriam's husband Norman and his brother Tunker are the antagonists of sorts since they oppose the boycott. The other minor characters consist of Miriam's daughter, who is also the narrator, and Odessa's husband and three kids. The way Miriam and Norman are written are what really set this movie apart for me. I had kind of been thinking that the southern white population of the time would have a bigger reason for segregation than blind racism, and Miriam and Norman provided the answer. Neither of them are really racist, but Norman's fear of the general white population pressures him into joining the anti-black movement. Similarly, Miriam's fear of Norman leads her to remain neutral, and therefore safe, in matters of race. I thought that was great, not only because it made for better characters, but also because it showed the white population's faults without completely demonizing them. That's not to say that racism isn't wrong, but it does show true racial equality.The script was pretty well written in terms of having a good story structure, B+ dialogue, and not going overboard or holding back too much with the discrimination scenes. The acting was fair, and might even be disappointing since you have a couple of bigger name actors. I don't know how historically accurate it was, but I doubt there are any inaccuracies that will make people mad.The movie doesn't make any huge anti-racism statements. Racism isn't completely gone in America in the sense that blacks are still generally associated, whether justly or not, with the more run down and dangerous neighborhoods. That said, I think most American's can agree that racial equality has and is becoming more prevalent.So if you want a civil rights movie, I would recommend this more highly than most. There's a lot of dialogue, which might be something to be conscious of. It's not bad as a family movie. There's a little violence and obviously a bit of racial profanity, but nothing you can't let your fourth or fifth grader watch. So give it a shot unless you absolutely hate historical movies. Overall Rating: 7.4/10.

This is the kind of movie that makes you want to cry—not because you watched the movie, but because what you're watching really happened. I didn't live in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955….didn't know about the bus boycott at the time. Shame on most of the white folks who are accurately portrayed in "The Long Walk Home," the racist citizens who complained at their dinner parties that "the ni__ers don't want to work" while their black maids were serving dinner. And much too tardy and much too inadequate praise for the other white folks who are accurately portrayed, the ones who felt the injustice, a little bit or a lot, that framed their everyday lives, living with their black neighbors in Montgomery. This is a message movie, plain and simple. Sissy and Whoopi are the messengers, plain and simple. They know what they're doing and they send the message to the viewer, straight from the shoulder, right between the eyes. It all seems very calm, except for the one, not-too-violent crowd violence scene at the carpool intersection—frankly, it's a bit awkwardly choreographed, but the denouement is satisfying. Sissy, rather incredibly, tells her domineering, bigoted, abusive husband to stuff himself at the very end. Good message, but not too realistic from a white 1950s housewife in Montgomery, Alabama. But Sissy is the other strong character—Sissy is on the right side of the bus boycott, and she sticks her neck out a lot more than Whoopi's maid character does. There is dreadful truth, and heroism, in "The Long Walk Home." Read more on my blog: Barley Literate

I forget when I saw the film or where, but it stayed with me. I really feel the film never got its appropriate praise or fan fair, but maybe some films are meant to be discovered by people as hidden gems and aren't meant to be touted as classics. Though I feel this one is.I felt that Whoopi Goldberg and Sissy Spacek were the cornerstones of the film and deepened the work by providing three dimensional characters that had more to do than just worry about a cause. They had lives to lead and families to raise and the film focuses on their daily living and how they lived it with this larger situation going on around them.This choice of direction brings us into the story much quicker because it focuses on the people and the impact the situation has on them.What stays with me is the subtlety and how small gestures can have a great impact.My favorite movies are about people. Real people interest me more than perfect people. This movie kept me interested.I bought this film on clearance and when I saw the $7.99 price tag I thought to myself - 'This is worth so much more' And it is!