Boycott

UPC: 026359177927

Studio: HBO Home Video

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Adult Situations, Questionable for Children]

Summary: In 1955, an African-American woman named Rosa Parks dared to take an empty seat in the "Whites Only" section on a city bus in Montomery, AL, and sparked one of the first major battles in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, thus bringing the work of Martin Luther King to the attention of many Americans for the first time. Boycott is a made-for-TV movie that dramatizes the events of the Montomery bus boycott, weaving vintage newsreel footage with scenes depicting the public and private dramas involved in the protests. Boycott stars Jeffrey Wright as Martin Luther King, Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King, and Terrence Dashon Howard as Ralph Abernathy; CCH Pounder, Reg E. Cathey, and Shawn Michael Howard highlight the supporting cast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Category: Historical Film

Awards: Best Miniseries or Made for Television Movie – American Film Institute Best Male Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series – American Film Institute

Features: Cast and director bios
Historical background
References
Web links
Main menu
English Dolby Surround
Director's commentary
Spanish stereo

Boycott

Format: DVD

Release Date: 01/08/2002

Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: 2 PCM stereo

Runtime: 112 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Chapters
1. Introduction/The Ride [4:40]
2. Plan of Action [7:04]
3. "A Good Day for Walking" [2:45]
4. Guilty as Charged? [3:32]
5. The Husband, the Preacher, the Outsider [10:22]
6. "A More Humane System" [7:12]
7. Car Pool [7:59]
8. Reactions and Opinions [8:35]
9. False Arrest [11:32]
10. Dangerous Limbs [9:36]
11. When Hate Meets Love [4:46]
12. Family and Liberty [9:20]
13. A Spiritual Movement [3:15]
14. Time for a Message [4:45]
15. Understanding the Consequences [8:52]
16. March of Freedom/Epilogue [2:52]
17. Today/Credits [5:24]

Tom Wiener

Thanks to a magnetic lead performance by Jeffrey Wright as Martin Luther King Jr. and inventive direction by Clark Johnson, Boycott is both an informative and hugely entertaining look at a crucial chapter in the history of the modern civil rights struggle. Wright embodies many facets of King's personality: his personal charisma, his faith in the power of nonviolence, and (at this moment in his life) his uncertainty about what the struggle would mean to his career and to his family. Johnson adroitly mixes in vintage footage and black-and-white cinematography (mainly in meetings between the African-American activists and the white power structure in Montgomery), using handheld cameras in many scenes to create a sense of urgency and immediacy. Though the white characters come off as rather one-dimensional, this is a film about the varying attitudes of the black characters to the burgeoning movement. At the beginning of the film, Rosa Parks has to talk her husband into endorsing the boycott, as does King with his wife Coretta. Even as the boycott picks up steam, the film continues to explore its internal politics, revealing that King's own father wanted him to withdraw from Montgomery. There's some witty and touching use of source music, including Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama," Dizzy Gillespie's "Swing Low, Sweet Cadillac," and Bob Dylan's "Gotta Serve Somebody." A standout in the supporting actors is Erik Todd Dellums in the key role of Bayard Rustin, whose encouragement of King was crucial to keeping the boycott nonviolent. Sharp-eyed viewers may also spot the director as a journalist and singer Aaron Neville in the crowd of citizens who gather outside King's home after it is bombed. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Eric Dellums  Actor 
Preston Holmes  Producer 
Clark Johnson  Director 
Timothy J. Sexton  Screenwriter 
Stephen James Taylor  Composer (Music Score) 
Norman Twain  Executive Producer 
Jeffrey Wright  Actor 
Terrence Howard  Actor 
CCH Pounder  Actor 
Carmen Ejogo  Actor 
Reg E. Cathey  Actor 
Brent Jennings  Actor 
Shawn Michael Howard  Actor 
Walter Franks  Actor 
Whitman Mayo  Actor 
E. Roger Mitchell  Actor 
Clark Johnson  Actor 
Mike Hodge  Actor 
Jack Martin  Actor 
Mert Hatfield  Actor 
Danny Nelson  Actor 
Thomas Byrd  Actor 

Country: USA