Based on a true story, this film depicts how the leader of the Klan, CP Ellis (Sam Rockwell) and black activist, Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson) start to bond.
This movie should not work, and though Henson is brilliant, she is miscast as Atwater, which is unfortunate.
It is Durham, North Carolina in 1971, where the Klan still has a despicable hold on the town and one of the first scenes shows some members shooting up the house of a young white woman solely because she is allegedly dating an African American man. That's right, the Klan hates not just blacks but also communists, Jews and those who like everyone, just so they don't get pushed out, which is exactly what they fear will happen when the elementary school in East Durham (read: the school for the African American children) is badly burned in an electrical fire. However, unable to attend the main elementary school, they have split shifts, which has to be dreadful for everyone.
The NAACP sues the board for this to change but as most of those on the school district and council are Klan supporters, they refuse to rule and instead get the citizens to make the decision themselves in a forum called charettes (something I've never hear of before) led by African American lawyer, Bill Riddick (Baboo Ceesay) who picks Ann and CP to lead the debate, which they agree, rather reluctantly on both sides.
The members of the council (Klanless and Activist-less) learn the issues and then vote after learning about them for two weeks (the issues aren't really discussed) and must win by a two-thirds majority. Fortunately, there are several white liberals so the Klan tries to persuade their decision.
Now, the end is inevitable, yes CP changes his mind. He isn't a bad guy and his life isn't easy. His oldest son has Down syndrome and is institutionalized, which cannot be easy or cheap. And after his rips up his Klan card, he is punished, the Klan burns more than 600 gallons of gasoline from his little shop. But Ann comes through for him, just as she said she would.
Fortunately, the performances are great, not just from Henson and Rockwell but from Anne Heche (Maryann Ellis), nice to her in a film again, John Gallagher, Jr (Lee Trombley) and Bruce MacGill (Carvie Oldham) and while it takes you back to that period, with the smoke everywhere, old cars and cheap gas prices (twenty-six cents per gallon), the film is still missing something. Sure, some of the points are shown with saying little (at the one school, the textbooks are old and the kids are learning stuff they should have learned the previous year), but some of the sessions aren't shown, which is such a shame. While the film was very good, it could have and should have been great. Grade: B+
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