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Freedomland |
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By : Suzanne Philips |
Movie Reviews List | |
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FREEDOMLAND Directed by: Joe Roth Book and Screenplay written by: Richard Price Starring: Samuel L. Jackson (SWAT, Pulp Fiction), Julianne Moore (Boogie Nights), Ron Eldard (ER, Ghost Ship), Edie Falco (Sopranos) MPAA: Rated R for language and some violent content. Running Time 1 hour 52min Detective Lorenzo Council (Samuel L. Jackson) is called in when Brenda Martin’s (Julianne Moore) is carjacked and finds that her 4-year old son was asleep in the back seat. Already high tensions erupt when she describes her suspect as a young black male and the police lock down the local housing project. A massive manhunt ensues, but is everything as it seems? Director Joe Roth does a wonderful job of building tension throughout this film. When the residents of the housing projects are put into lockdown, you can really feel their frustration and anger about the way they are being treated. He also does a great job of keeping the audience guessing. You feel as though you are on the right trail and then suddenly a curve appears. Everyone seems somewhat suspicious and no one’s motives are entirely clear. Do the police officers want to harass the tenants of the housing project just to prove a point? Is Detective Council overlooking potential suspects just because he has a personal relationship with the community? Did Brenda Martin actually kill her son? All of these questions come up and some point in the film. While at times, the dialogue can feel a bit preachy and tedious, it never veers into the realm of boring. While this could have been a stereotypical racially driven script, it always stops short of stooping to that level. Richard Price does a good job of showing the perspective of all of the players and not favoring one race or the other. The Acting, for the most part, is really top notch. Samuel L. Jackson...how can you not love him?! What I really found appealing about him in this role is that he shows such a range of character. He can be the bad-assed policeman but can also show his softer side. Detective Council has a bad asthma problem and has to wear eyeglasses to read, he is not infallible. His love and friendship for the tenants of the housing project is endearing and his loyalty is tested when both his friends and the police department expect him to choose sides and ultimately turn on him when he refuses to do so. Julianne Moore was good as Brenda Martin, the mother who loses her child. In the earlier scenes, her acting didn’t quite ring true for me, I didn’t quite believe her. However, there is a nice scene near the end where she is being interrogated and she really pulls it out. Overall a good, but not great, performance. Edie Falco also has a nice turn as the founder of a group that locates missing children. She herself had lost a child ten years ago and has dedicated herself to finding closure for other families. LaTanya Richardson Jackson (Samuel’s real life wife) is quite good in the few scenes she was in as a member of the missing children’s group. Ron Eldard is a simmering policeman who is also the uncle of the missing
boy. A nice turn for him as the foil of Detective Council. |
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