dallas_viewer

I thought this was an excellent film overall, though I would urge you to read howkijan's 6-star review, which summarizes some of the film's weaknesses.

My personal thought is that the people who would benefit most from seeing this film--people who rely on social media or liberal academia for information about black history in America over the past 60 or so years--would probably have a hard time understanding the film's message.

I say this because Uncle Tom assumes that the viewer is able to take all of the disparate scenes/interviews presented and distill them into a fundamental message. I'm not sure the critical thinking skills required to do this are present in many folks under age 40 today.

Therefore, IMO, the film needed to do a better job spelling out (i.e., dumbing down) its message for those folks who literally need to have it spelled out.

Moreover, I'm not even 100 percent sure what the message is.

--Is it that black Americans need to wake up and realize their communities have been, and continue to be, damaged by poor political policies and programs, a significant number of which were/are championed and put into play by Democrats?

--Or is it simply that it's okay to be a conservative black American, and there is a lot of historical precedent for being so?

Or is the message something else?

At the end of the day, I have a feeling Uncle Tom will only appeal to those who already recognize and agree with its message (whatever you perceive that to be).

Young folks hooked on social media may struggle to understand what the film is saying. And even if they understand, they may still dismiss the film as "propaganda" that is at odds with the "truth" being touted by the liberal press/social media and educational institutions.

It's puzzling to me that three of the four "Little Women" are played by British actresses, and the fourth is played by an Australian. Not quite sure how it is that Production could not find American actresses to play any of the March sisters--who, of course, are American. TBH, I'm a bit insulted by this.

**The Good** Timothée Chalamet was outstanding as Laurie! Sets and costumes were excellent.

**The Bad** This adaptation of LW is a non-linear mess. I hope you've already read the book when you watch this, because honestly, I'm not sure how you would know what the story was about otherwise. It jumps back and forth between the past and future, between this plot point and that plot point--a technique that can work, but that doesn't work here.

Frankly, the movie never spent enough time on any one plot point or character to make me feel invested in that plot point or character. As a result, from beginning to end, I felt nothing--which is not how I want to respond to a movie.

Maybe that is why it took me 3 days to watch this, and I'm a fan of the book.

Next time I see that a movie is a Greta Gerwig movie, I will think twice about watching it, because I'm really not impressed by her so far.