Formula: Loving / A Time to Kill
There are two kinds of movies that are ready-made critic-proof. The first are meta or clever movies. I like to point to Heathers as an example of this. It’s a shielded movie. You can either enjoy it or miss the point. If you point to something that doesn’t work about it, the defense is that it was intentional, which means it’s actually good. The old “you're supposed to dislike it” defense. Since Heathers is actually good, maybe instead think Freddy Got Fingered. The other critic-proof movie tends to not need the protection. They are serious films about actual awful events. Who is ever going to say Schindler’s List is bad? You can dislike the movie, but you have to point it back as a failing on yourself – “It was too overwhelming for me.” “It triggered feelings I don’t like to have”. If someone tries to attack the pacing or the pretentiousness of the black and white, the defense can twist it back to you being heartless or lazy*.
*For the record, I actually do adore Schindler’s List and watch it reasonably often. It’s just the easiest example of what I’m talking about.
Till falls into that latter category of critic-proof movies. It is the story of the murder of a 14-year-old black child from Chicago in 1955 Mississippi. There is no debate about what the right side of history is on this story. It’s a heartbreaking story and significant for its place in race-relations in the US. The film itself is more specifically about Till’s mother, Mamie Till (Danielle Deadwyler) and how she handled her son’s death. She was willing to share her pain with the world and face her son’s murderers in court.
The film is very powerful in parts. Deadwyler puts herself through the emotional ringer. It’s a big performance, full of extreme emotion. The movie is willing to show the ugliness of what happened to her son. It’s hard to watch as it shows Till’s bloated and beaten body. I can understand anyone being deeply moved by this movie. I certainly was…in places.
Where I had trouble with the movie is how it puts its finger on the scale and how big it goes. I don’t need a lot of convincing that Till’s murder was bad. They cast an actual 14-year-old, not someone older who can pass for young. There’s never a good reason to lynch a person. Showing what they did to the body is going to convince anyone in the audience. The film, especially pre-opening credit really plays up Till’s youth and innocence though. It felt vaguely patronizing, like an audience needed convincing that he didn’t deserve to be killed. Also, there’s no good way to say it: there is some silly crying. They have Deadwyler go huge in several moments. I thought it was just me being cynical until I heard chuckles in my theater at one or two points. That’s one of those places where the film is shielded. You can absolutely hit me back with “of course she’s playing it big. Her son just died” and I have no good rebuttal. It’s impressive that Deadwyler can get to those places. To me though, it often felt like the performance of a well-trained actor giving all their energy to a performance rather than truly authentic reactions. She’s not alone in this. Others lean in a little too much at times as well, so I think this is less a complaint about Deadwyler and more a question of directorial or editing choices.
Till is absolutely going to deliver all the things you expect to get out of it. You’ll feel the rage of the injustice. It is unflinching in ways that I really respect: so much that it may be triggering to many people. Danielle Deadwyler is a standout for the range of emotions she displays throughout the film. Jalyn Hall as Emmitt Till is a sweet kid who definitely doesn’t deserve what happened. The film is rounded out with good performances from the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Frankie Faison, Kevin Carroll and others. Hayley Bennett plays the woman who started this mess, and her hair and makeup do 90% of the work. That’s a compliment to the crew, not a dig at Bennett. Till delivers, but it’s far from perfect.
Note: I realize that I started this by talking about movies that are self-aware as a shield from criticism then went on to write a Reaction that attempts to be self-aware as a way to protect myself from people who disagree with my take. I left this movie feeling bad that I didn’t like it more and this is my best attempt to unpack that.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
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