Review of Selma (2014) by Rob S — 25 Jul 2015

People were upset at the 2015 Oscars that this movie didn't get recognition in certain categories, making it seem as if the Academy was discriminating. I disagree with this disappointment as I didn't see greatness in this movie.

Selma was a slow movie for me, but it had a lot of allusions and historical figures to make for a good movie for history buffs. The movie had an aura of significance throughout, but it wasn't necessarily intriguing to me. The film's focus is on a short segment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, specifically the march from Selma to Montgomery (I believe) to protest the suppression of African Americans' right to vote.

The film was only mediocre. Firstly, I did not think David Oyelowo played a good MLK Jr. Secondly the film seemed to rush through interactions with historical figures instead of keeping them on for the ride. When they show Malcolm X in the film he is pronounced dead only a few scenes later. J. Edgar Hoover shows up once in the film even though he is mentioned on a few occasions.

Nothing stood out for me regarding the overall aesthetic of the film which is why I call Selma mediocre at best. Everything seemed pretty typical - the direction, the cinematography, the editing had a slow pace to it, the acting - all fairly typical. With a boring movie I really don't have much to say, and this film bored me, but it was historically significant and still relevant to recent African American issues such as the riots in Ferguson.