Review of 12 Years a Slave (2013) by Phillip D — 18 Jul 2016

In order to let the dust settle, I waited awhile to see this movie. As with all movies of this nature, 12 Years A Slave walked out to universal acclaim and ridiculously high ratings everywhere. I am pretty wary of this phenomenon.

Just because a movie hits at a minority abuse point doesn't make it cinema gold. Films exist on a continuum and premises don't guarantee anything. That being said, 12 Years A Slave was an excellent movie.

The acting was stellar and most importantly, no punches were pulled in the depiction of slavery. The scenarios are brutal and raw, really cutting to the core of the viewer. Ejiofor is fantastic, although those of us who are Serenity fans already knew this.

Fassbender also offers up a top notch performance. The fact that this story is true just adds more weight to the movie. However, there are items that severely limit the longevity of this movie in cinematic history.

Although Ejiofor and Fassbender are excellent, the performance from Nyongo'o was pretty mute, a surprising point considering her runaway Supporting Actress win. Pitt is pretty much in the movie just for awards appeal as well, an all too common occurrence that I find distasteful.

I think the biggest thing that keeps this movie firmly at an 80% for me is how safe it played the game. As a whole, white and black people were fairly dichotomous in nature. One group didn't have feelings, the other did.

There was a bit of talk about the psychological process of whipping slaves, but it isn't really fleshed out much and we don't get to see anyone grappling with it's effects. Cumberbatch, who offered an interesting paradox early in the film, exits quickly, which is a real shame.

Pitt appears mostly as an Ex Machina figure, offering minimal depth behind his single major monologue. In conclusion, 12 Years A Slave does everything right, creating a film that is powerful, moving and right on target with current events.

Unfortunately, it isn't a film that transcends itself, choosing instead to be content with ruffling no feathers and taking no risks. And what a shame that is.