Review of Redemption Road (2011) by Homereviewer — 16 May 2012

After I watched the trailers, I knew I had to see this movie. I had not yet seen a Mario Van Peebles directed movie I liked until this one. It helped that supporting actors Michael Clarke Duncan, who has 90 movies under his belt, and Tom Skerritt who has 150 movies under his belt, have face recognition.

As for Morgan Simpson, who has the lead in this movie, he was completely unknown to me but I was sold on his performance. He wrote the story so he had the benefit of knowing exactly what his character was suppose to feel and why.

The story has a few weak spots but they do not deter the viewer from keeping focused on all the good points. To use an expression in the film, Duncan delivers some fortune cookie wisdom, but it is no less valuable wisdom as far as I was concerned. Even the music delivers wisdom to those who pay attention. The music in the movie is really good, unless you hate the blues and country styles (especially the blues). The story has in the first 75% to 80% of the movie a well planned set-up for a surprise you don't see coming and which may bring tears to some viewers with kinder hearts. Thankfully, Skerritt's character made a point in the movie that you need to cry sometimes to purge the sadness that will otherwise weigh you down and it feels better after. We all know that to be true.