Review of Southside with You (2016) by Francisco Q — 14 May 2017

The film is rather unsure of what it wants to be. It seems to want to be a coming of age movie, romance, and a sort of cultural biopic all at the same time. I thought the insistence of African culture were a bit odd, especially as they seemed to only serve as a narrative element. I found myself trying to figure out what the symbolism meant, and getting tangled up. I found Tika Sumpter to be a bit robotic in her depiction of Michelle Obama, more fitting of a Hillary Clinton than the funny and understanding yet still determined and practical Obama. The choice of music and score was perhaps the most puzzling as it has little to no effect, and usually clashes. My final criticism is that the film falls into a repetition of telling and not showing way too much.

I give all this criticism first so it does not look like I'm Gaga over Sawyers performance. He embodies the quirky cool of Obama. The effortless comfort with a twinge of nerd. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. The community scene is written perfectly, as it shows Obama not at full DNC keynote speaker level, but almost as a budding flower. Sawyers performance is frankly beautiful to watch.

The problem here is that Sumpter's portrayal turns what could be a stunning character in Michelle into a flat character that I don't think portrays any of Michelle's real heroine-like characteristics. Contrast this with Sawyers performance that somehow embodies a mix of Chance the Rapper and Ferris Bueller both in their 20s, and we have the exact opposite of what the film seems to try to do, which is want a lot more of Barack, and less of Michelle, which is a shame given the power of the dialogue.