Jones Plantation

Get ready to be hit by some uncomfortable home truths. You think you are in control, but are you really?

The good: love it or hate it, will not leave you indifferent. The film asks a hard question and will push and push for answers from an audience that starts by simply rejecting the question.

The bad: perhaps the script tries to squeeze in too much, there's enough material for a series. Low budget, but It is amazing what they managed to do with it, I forgot about it ten minutes in.

And the pretty: Maurice Johnson absolutely shines here, he delivers in spades, with relish and panache. Loved it.

I wouldn't normally want to watch any modern movies about slavery. Roots is/was the gold standard for that subject much like Exorcist or Jaws are in their genres. Any attempts to match the success of those iconic masterpieces usually end up in the dustbin of film history.

Most slavery movies use the depiction of physical punishment on the slaves to evoke emotions. The monotonous desperate life of a slave is rarely the subject. What does it take for a human to wake up everyday and go about his day knowing his life is no better than a beast of burden? This movie offers an angle that I've not seen before. A full on perspective from the slave owners' side as well as the hired consultant Mr. Smith, a former slave himself.

I was "sold" on this movie once it was clear that Mr. Smith's agenda was beginning to take shape. I hung on every piece of dialogue between Smith and Jones. Instead of just feeling sorry for the slaves I had this nagging idea that we are all trapped much like the slaves. We are all in the Matrix!

Obviously, this film has a message in which both left and right leaning viewers would cast the other side as the evil slave owners. Both would be correct since we are in fact willfully trapped in the mental slavery system. We rather blame each other instead of the ones holding the reins. We are grateful for the leftovers when we haven't eaten in days. We follow their mandates without question. Well done!!

I would have given this a 10 if the overall acting was better. Some scenes were flat and not convincing. Maurice Johnson as Mr. Smith deserves an Oscar nomination if I had any say about it. This is a movie that I may watch again which is rare.

Bias disclaimer: around 11 years ago that came across a YouTube video called The Jones Plantation. It is what this movie is based upon. Given the fact that I was so infatuated with the YouTube video (which I recommend) I will say I am biased in my review. And I tried my best to remain as objective as possible.

Acting: 5/10

Some of the acting is amazing. Maurice does a great job. Sometimes Mr. Jones does good, but other times he just really falls flat. The same goes with most the other supporting actors and actresses. Then there is just some line delivery or acting that just does not do it. It does not convey the emotional element or the dialogue/ writing. Just seems forced. Very few times it seems. Unnatural. All in all, I've seen worse acting on the films. I've enjoyed more, and I've seen better acting in indie films I have not cared for.

Plot: 10/10

And so very refreshing to have something that is not supposed to be taken at face value. That's not a movie about a plantation or slavery in the 1800s. It's an allegory. The actual setting of the movie is just that of a metaphor for the idea of the movie is trying to convey. If you watch anything of just slavery in the time period, it's going to feel and seem very off, but if you consider the government/states/culture instead of a plantation then you will quickly realize the meaning and message behind the film. To avoid spoilers, if you change the lens from what you expect to a wider aspect of what the writers trying to tell you , then you will see the film in a different light. I find this really refreshing compared to most blockbuster and indie film development. Something that seems fresh, different, and you unique as well as introducing fresh faces and a fresh idea to cinema.

Production: 6/10

The production called was really well, it wasn't expecting a lot of locations or beautiful country sides. I think they did well with their budget for settings, though it would be nice to see a few different places. The scenes kind of get redundant as far as the background goes. Even utilizing different angles and different shots, not a lot. Really changes as far as the setting goes. I don't want to call it. A lack of effort more than it's just a lack of budgeting and using what you've got. I gave him a little leeway but it still wouldn't. Nice to see some different scenery.

Now as far as shots and camera angles go, they weren't flat. No point that I feel like I was watching someone's first attempt at shooting in the movie. At the same time some of the shots did feel formulaic as well as redundant. While they were small. Little things I could pick out that made me say, "oh yeah this is a different shot," I did find myself double guessing whether or not I was seen the same shot for a different scene or not.

Overall, I'd say 8 out of 10. I loved it. Identify myself switching too much to my phone. They were times I would get distracted and I'd feel like I need to rewind and double check something. But overall it was a fresh and interesting movie. I really loved it.

This film may be the best social and political commentary I've seen in a long time. Covers any number of themes relevant to American history and I can see it being presented in social studies classes for years to come. It's well worth watching for that alone.

As a film, it tends to drag a bit. There's lots of long discussions and speeches to get to the social and political statements they wish to make. In general movies tend to work a bit better when they show things through storytelling than through long drawn out dialogs.

Acting performances are mixed. Some of them are great, others fall a bit short of the emotional impact needed to get the points across and some of the writing leaves some characters as cliches.

The other thing that I found bothersome was the soundtrack. A lot of it seems to be canned music that's just dropped in at odd points and doesn't blend well between parts. The music choices often seemed to not fit well with what's happening in the scene.

But again this is a pretty powerful film that's for the most part well presented.

Okay. Just to get it out of the way, this is a low budget production. Obviously so. The most distracting areas this popped up for me were with the music and some of the editing and staging of scenes. Some reviewers have talked about the acting, but I really didn't notice too many issues there.

If you just can't watch low budget movies, then maybe you should avoid. I think that'd be a shame though because this movie has a lot to offer in terms of social commentary, though they do go over the top at times spelling it out for the audience.

My 8/10 is for the commentary being offered and the interesting idea of exploring it in this specific time period. I was hooked from start to finish, despite elements that, in other productions, might have made me stop watching.

I subtracted 2 points for the distracting score, some awkward/jarring choices with regard editing and scenes, and for not trusting your audience to make the connection, feeling you had to spell it out constantly.