| Bilgi : Watching Freedomland reminded me a bit of last year's Cinderella Man.
That zero-to-hero boxing movie's conclusion isn't much of a
mystery. But, the film created such tension and empathy for
the characters, that being able to guess the ending didn't
matter. The journey was the important part.
This is probably what the filmmakers of Freedomland hope for. And it mostly
works. Based on the book by Richard Price (who also wrote the
screenplay), the movie centers on a carjacking/murder case
with a solution that is fairly obvious from the get-go. Price
has even said publicly that the film is loosely inspired by a
famous real-life case. This isn't as much a thriller as it is
a drama—propelled by the questions of how the
characters will find out the truth. And how that truth will
affect their world.
Julianne Moore as Brenda Martin,
a woman in deep trouble
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Freedomland begins
in a New Jersey public housing project called Armstrong, where
local detective Lorenzo Council (Samuel L. Jackson) is king
and protector. But he's thrown above his head when a white
woman, Brenda Martin (Julianne Moore), is carjacked near
Armstrong by a black man. The bad news: Her 4-year-old was
asleep in the backseat. Worse news: Her brother (Ron Eldard)
is a cop in the almost all-white neighboring suburb of Gannon.
Soon, Armstrong is under siege by Gannon cops. There's a
bitter stalemate between races as Council investigates the
crime. As both races put pressure on him, Council turns to a
neighborhood advocacy group, led by Karen Collucci (Edie
Falco), which regularly mobilizes to help police find missing
children. Together, they try to put the pieces together before
Armstrong tears itself apart.
As in the book, Price uses the
carjacking/kidnapping of a white child by a black to probe
racial fears, prejudice, and smoldering tensions. Injustice
rules the day. While one character notes that there've been
several recent black-on-black crimes in Armstrong, the
projects have never seen a media—or police—presence like the
one caused by the disappearance of a white boy. In fact, the
case blows the lid off of pent-up aggression. Cops use the
siege as an easy opportunity to arrest black residents with
trivial warrants. The boy's uncle invites the blacks' anger by
blaming an innocent—and savagely beating him. Leaders of the
black community fight back with demonstrations, rallies, and
accusations, while black teens fight back more violently.
Samuel L. Jackson as Detective
Lorenzo Council
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The biggest plus to the film's handling of
racism is that it's fairly balanced. And the movie does
provide some insights on racial injustices—such as the
difference in how the world reacts to a crime against whites
compared to blacks. But unlike the superior Crash, the film's investigation doesn't
go much further than just showing these somewhat
clichéd events. You see these injustices occurring, but little
comment is made other than the fact that they are
counterproductive and harmful. But we know that. Not much of
this is new territory, but it can be gripping at times.
But there are problems with unevenness, not
to mention difficulty trying to figure out what is going on.
Sometimes it feels as if readers of the book may understand
why a scene, a character quirk, or a side plot is included,
but uninitiated movie viewers are left in the dark. Characters
seem to change back and forth. Roth cuts too quickly and
spastically in some places, but plods along slowly in other
scenes. For instance, when Council first learns that Martin's
son was in the car, the scene is so crazily paced (with lots
of quick cuts) and delivered with so much random yelling that
it's hard to tell what is wrong. Samuel L. Jackson suddenly
spins from a calm but caring take on his Shaft character into a bumbling, weak
Barney Fife.
During the interrogation, Council
senses he's not getting the whole story
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If this unevenness in writing, directing, and
acting were ironed out, the film would be quite compelling.
Other than the unclear characterizations at times, the acting
is top-notch. Moore is invisible inside her strung-out,
frantic mother. But the star of the movie is the amazingly
steady Falco. She grounds every scene she's in—especially an
exceptionally powerful scene with Moore.
Another plus of Freedomland is an interesting, though
ultimately underdeveloped, theme of faith. Council delivers
two strong—while overwrought—speeches about his belief in God.
He speaks of God's will and about letting God "own" your life.
Council, a character with mistakes in his past, also in a way
has lost a child. But he says, "God's grace is retroactive.
God gives us second chances. I didn't do what I could have for
my son Jason—and now, I see every kid out there as Jason." And
while these speeches contain some great thoughts about faith,
redemption and reaching out to others, they come a bit out of
the blue. A more steady study of this character—and more
evenness in the overall execution of the film—would have made
this good movie into a great one. |
