Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe and Frances McDormand in the Alan Parker movie ‘Mississippi Burning’

The movie Mississippi Burning (1988) originates its sense of setting with the 1964 murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael ‘Mickey’ Schwerner. For a historical account of their disappearance and murders near the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, you may review this description. Mississippi Burning was woven into a crime thriller with two Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents investigating the disappearance of three civil rights workers in fictional Jessup County. The hostility encountered from the town’s residents, local police, and the Ku Klux Klan launches a police procedural that becomes the story.

(From left, Willem Dafoe as FBI agent Alan Ward (based on Joseph Sullivan) and Gene Hackman as FBI agent Rupert Anderson (based on John Proctor) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

The movie begins with an introduction to one black and two Jewish civil rights workers tasked with helping African Americans register for voting. The three disappear, which sufficiently alarms the national organizations supporting the workers to contact the FBI. Agents Alan Ward and Rupert Anderson, as portrayed by Willem Dafoe and Gene Hackman, respectively, are dispatched to work in a reluctant local community to get to the truth and bring a sense of justice to a situation bent in a decidedly different direction. The FBI agents have a decidedly different approach for engaging the people in the local community.

(From left, Brad Dourif as Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell (based on Cecil Price) and Gailard Sartain as Ray Stuckey, Sheriff of Jessup County (based on Lawrence A. Rainey) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

The difficulty engaging the community begins with the fanatical presence of the Ku Klux Klan, which has penetrated the police where the disappearances occurred. The black community is afraid lives in legitimate fear while the white community sees and / or administers the hate and abuse rampant in the town. Jessup County Sheriff Ray Stuckey and Deputy Sheriff Clinton Pell, as portrayed Gailard Sartain and Brad Dourif, respectively, are prominent leaders in this underlying truth.

(Frances McDormand as Mrs. Pell (as based on Conner Price, standing) and Park Overall as Connie (seated) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

A fair portion of the investigative portion of the movie offers insight into the differing approaches for learning the fate of the civil rights workers. The older FBI agent Rupert Anderson and the more senior FBI agent Alan Ward have distinctly different styles, wherein the more by-the-book approach reigns supreme from the start of the movie. This really ruffles the elder field agent, and the exposition for how this works out really offers credit to the storytelling, if not the historical accuracy, of the movie. While the absence of significant focus on the black population in the storytelling is a problem for some, the incorporation of Mrs. Pell and Connie, as portrayed by Frances McDormand and Park Overall, has it merits.

(From left, Darius McCrary as Aaron Williams and Lou Walker as Vertis Williams in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

The break that ends the law enforcement tension above happens with a cost. Aaron and Vertis Williams, as portrayed by Darius McCrary and Lou Walker, respectively, suffer at a key point that brings about a swift transition in approach that may or may not be decisive. That this shift occurs is emotionally satisfying, whether Ward and Anderson actually come to appreciate each other afterward or not.

(From left, R. Lee Ermey as Mayor Tilman, Stephen Tobolowsky as Clayton Townley (based on Samuel Bowers) and Michael Rooker as Frank Bailey (based on Alton Wayne Roberts) in the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

Zeroing in on the community dedication to participating in or tacitly approving of it, outside the local police, included businessman Clayton Townley, Mayor Tilman and believer Frank Bailey. Stephen Tobolowsky, R. Lee Ermey and Michael Rooker portrayed Townley, Tilman and Bailey, respectively. That an attempt to connect the dots with these three, plus Lester Cowens (based on Jimmy Snowden), was an appreciated touch in the portrayed story. Pruitt Taylor Vince portrayed Lester Cowens.

(Actor Gene Hackman and director Alan Parker on location for the Alan Parker movie Mississippi Burning).

There is so many interesting choices made in the movie that we receive with Mississippi Burning. The choices in what to include and exclude thematically, both from the historical sense and then from the emotional sense of helping folks feel the importance of the story were solid. The decision not to take the perspective of the aggrieved parties themselves further, or the aggrieved class of people further, is interesting as a limitation; my sense is that the movie still works despite not going further. Additionally, the depth of the cast that told the story included additionally needs to be called out as a recommendation for this movie. I grant Mississippi as directed by Alan Parker 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, February 26, 2022

Timothy Olyphant, Walton Goggins and Season Three of ‘Justified’

We first introduced you to the FX television series Justified (2010-2015) with our look into the first season last July. We followed with a look into season two in September. The third 13-episode season of Justified brings an exiled Detroit mobster to Harlan through Lexington, Kentucky to establish the oxycontin trade. Meanwhile, a couple of other criminal feuds breakout with allegiances changing with rapid fire, ending up with Nobles Holler playing a decent part in the larger story.

(Natalie Zea as Winona Hawkins, left, and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the television series Justified).

Timothy Olyphant continues to star in season three of Justified as the righteous yet rule-bending lawman morally mixed-up with his ex-wife Winona Hawkins, as portrayed by Natalie Zea. The story involving Gary Hawkins, as portrayed by William Ragsdale, is one worth keeping an eye on through the season.

(Left to right, Neal McDonough as Robert Quarles, William Ragsdale as Gary Hawkins and Jere Burns as Wynn Duffy in the television series Justified).

The exiled Detroit mobster Robert Quarles, portrayed by Neal McDonough, interplays with Dixie Mafia enforcer Wynn Duffy, as portrayed by Jere Burns. The banter among these characters highlights cultural differences between the Midwestern United States and Appalachia, aiming for humor in the approach.

(Left to right, Joelle Carter as Ava Crowder, Raymond J. Barry as Arlo Givens and Walton Goggins as Boyd Crowder in the television series Justified).

Old feuds surface in the telling of the story of introducing new players into the vacuum caused by the deaths of Mags Bennett and others in the second season of the series. The feud between Boyd Crowder, as portrayed by Walton Goggins, and Dickie Bennett, as portrayed by Jeremy Davies, is a central part of that tale. Ava Crowder remains in league with her former brother-in-law, Boyd, while Arlo Givens joins the Crowders, including wheel-chair bound Johnny Crowder, in that process. Joelle Carter plays Ava Crowder. Raymond J. Barry plays Arlo Givens, the father to Raylan. David Meunier plays Johnny Crowder.

(Todd Stashwick as Ash Murphy, left, and Jeremy Davies as Dickie Bennett in the television series Justified).

Almost everybody through the third season of Justified has an interest in the money that Mags Bennett has left in trust with the Ellstin Limehouse in Noble’s Holler. Dickie Bennett believes himself to be the rightful heir to the fortune, which in separate parts motivates behavior for Boyd, Johnny and Ava Crowder, Arlo Givens, Raylan Givens, Ash Murphy and Ellstin Limehouse. Ash Murphy, a Kentucky jailer, is portrayed by Todd Stashwick. Ellstin Limehouse is portrayed by Mykelti Williamson.

(Left to right, Mykelti Williamson as Ellstin Limehouse, Erica Tazel as Rachel Brooks and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the television series Justified).

Law enforcement officers with the U.S. Marshals Service in Justified continue to include Rachel Brooks as portrayed by Erica Tazel, Art Mullen as portrayed by Nick Searcy and Tim Gutterson as portrayed by Jacob Pitts. A nebulous and entertaining fictional part of this series is the different degrees of gray that these characters, and all the characters to some degree, in this series occupy.

(Left to right, Nick Searcy as Art Mullen, Jacob Pitts as Tim Gutterson and Timothy Olyphant as Raylan Givens in the television series Justified).

The third season of this series hits another home run of entertaining for me, which allowed me to move quickly through the season. The emotional truths of different characters in the story, flaws and quirks right there for the telling, is part of what resonates in the storytelling of this season. The same has been true of the series overall, with payoffs among the different seasons as well. I grade for season three of Justified at 4.25-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Saturday, January 18, 2020