Rosewood Review
The best effort from filmmaker John Singleton since his debut Boyz 'N the Hood (1991), this high-quality drama ably re-creates a shocking true incident from Florida history but falters in its troubling insistence on creating a fictional, iconic protagonist around whom much of the action is centered. In its sprawling narrative, its assured evocation of its early 20th century time period, its terrific performances, and its exploration of core racial, political, and class issues, Singleton's film strongly resembles John Sayles' classic Matewan (1987). That's high praise and the film certainly earns it, but the insertion of the nearly mythic character Mann (Ving Rhames) dilutes the powerfully compelling story unfolding here. Mann at times resembles a little too closely the sort of no-name action heroes assayed by Clint Eastwood, making his presence distracting as well as condescending. It seems that either the production company or the filmmakers didn't trust their audience to understand that the real hero of the piece is Sylvester Carrier (Don_Cheadle), the music teacher who swallows his grief and outrage, doing what he must to survive. Maybe that wasn't heroic enough for Hollywood movie producers but Rosewood (1997) is based on a true story and Carrier's real-life brand of courage should have been more than enough to avoid the use of such a ham-handed cliché. Karl Williams, Rovi
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