| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Movie Name | ROSEWOOD (1997) |
| Director | John Singleton |
| Writer | Gregory Poirier |
| Lead Actor | Ving Rhames |
| Cast | Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Jon Voight, Michael Rooker, Esther Rolle, Elise Neal, Bruce McGill, Loren Dean |
| Genre | Drama, History |
| Release Date | February 21, 1997 (United States) |
| Duration | 2h 20m (140 min) |
| Budget | $25 million |
| Language | English |
| IMDb Rating | 7.2/10 |
Rosewood is also set in Florida but grim history this time. It’s January 1923, and the small rural town of Rosewood, founded and populated almost entirely by blacks, is destroyed by armed, angry whites. Many are killed, mostly blacks. The event was consigned to oblivion until recent years, when public notice has been taken in Florida and some compensation given to survivors.
Director John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood, Higher Learning) and writer Gregory Poirier use the event as the basis for a harrowing story describing themes persistent in American race relations. There are separate towns, churches and cultures, with fear, ignorance and sexual tensions. A white woman tries to cover up being abused by charging a black man with rape.
The movie follows several characters of both races during the horror that follows, especially Esther Rolle and Don Cheadle as sympathetic Rosewood citizens, Jon Voight as a white merchant grappling with multiple moral dilemmas, Michael Rooker as a sheriff agonizing (mostly in vain) with his conscience and Bruce McGill as a witty but despicable racist teaching his young son how “God made the world.”
Singleton offers a champion of mythic dimensions, played by Ving Rhames, who falls in love with Rosewood’s sweet schoolteacher (Elise Neal).
Rosewood is technically a class act. There is plenty of violence, but with restraint. Intended for adults, a chunk of history not much covered in textbooks satisfactory for mature viewers.
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