MOVIE PREVIEWS
SON OF THE SOUTH
Rated: PG-13
Release Date: 02/05/2021
Production Company: Vertical Entertainment

Cast:
Lucas Till, Shamier Anderson, Lucy Hall, Lex Scott Davis, Jake Abel, Cedric The Entertainer, Julia Ormond, Brian Dennehy and Dexter Darden.

Crew:
Director: Barry Alexander Brown. Producers: Robin C. Adams, Colin Bates, Bill Black, Stan Erdreich, Michael Jefferson, David Kang, Matt Williams Knowles, Eve Pomerance, Justin Ross, Caroline Sinclair, Christopher Smith and Reggie Thomas. Executive Producers: Rob Anderson Oshiomogho Atogwe, Shondrella Avery, Deena Bacon, Randall Bacon, Frank Barwah and at least two dozen more. Screenwriters: Barry Alexander Brown, Constance Curry and Bob Zellner (Autobiography: "The Wrong Side of Murder Creek"). Cinematographer: John Rosario.
Plot:
By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs

The new, Civil Rights drama, “Son of the South” from director Barry Alexander Brown (“Breath of Freedom”) is based on author Robert Zellner’s 2008 memoir, “The Wrong Side of Murder Creek: A White Southerner in the Freedom Movement.”

In “Son of the South,” Zellner is played by Lucas Till (TV’s “MacGyver”) and the movie centers around him taking a stand for racial equality by joining the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)--he was their first white field secretary-- and becoming active in the Civil Rights movement while a student at Montgomery Alabama’s Huntingdon College.

In the process, Zellner meets Reverend Ralph Abernathy (Cedric the Entertainer, TV’s “The Neighborhood”), Rosa Parks (Sharonne Lanier, “I Still Believe”), James Forman Sr. (played by his son Chaka Forman, “Palm Swings”) and John Lewis (Dexter Darden, TV’s “Saved by The Bell”) who schools Zellner on the backlash he will face for his involvement with them.

Not only was Zellner intimidated and threatened with violence from his white classmates and others in his tight-knit community, but even from his own grandfather (Brian Dennehy in one of his last roles) who is a proud member of the KKK.

Zellner’s longtime girlfriend Carol (Lucy Hale, TV’s “Day by Day”) left him, but he later falls for a striking black woman named Joanne (Lex Scott Davis, TV’s “All Rise”), which no doubt made his grandfather angrier.

While the acting in “Son of the South” is solid, there is something a bit off kilter about the movie. It methodically goes through the motions to lay out the struggles that blacks faced during the Civil Rights movement, but there’s not enough spark or punch to make it as impactful as other Civil Rights dramas like “Selma” or “Boycott” which is rather surprising considering that Spike Lee is a co-executive producer of the film.

Still, “Son of the South” is another slice of our history that deserves to be known and seen.

Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays at 6:20 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.

Watch This Trailer For "SON OF THE SOUTH"

Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics' Association (BFCA), The Black Film Critics Circle (BFCC), The American Film Institute (AFI), and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.

OLD SCHOOL VIDEO PICK OF THE MONTH

<b>MAHOGANY</b> Title: MAHOGANY
Year Released: 1975
Running Time: 109
Production Company: Paramount Pictures
Director: Berry Gordy, Tony Richardson and Jack Wormser
Director of Photography: David Watkin
Screenwriter: John Byrum and Toni Amber
Author: Lana K. Wilson-Combs

REVIEW: DIANA ROSS AND BILLY DEE WILLIAMS DAZZLE IN "MAHOGANY"

Do you know where you're going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to?
Do you know?
Do you get what you're hoping for? When you look behind you, there's no open doors. What are you hoping for? Do you know? "Theme from Mahogany...
  MOVIE TRIVIA
 
The "Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)" was sung by Diana Ross in the 1975 movie "Mahogany." But, who initially recorded the song in 1973?
"Roberta Flack"
"Natalie Cole"
"Deniece Williams"
"Thelma Houston"