The Best of Enemies (2019)

Directed by Robin Bissell. Starring Sam Rockwell, Taraji P. Henson, Babou Ceesay, Bruce McGill, Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, John Gallagher Jr, Nick Searcy, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Sope Aluko, Caitlin Mehner. [PG-13]

Durham, NC, 1971: the issue of school integration is debated within a citizen-based focus group, with a final vote among twelve selected members to determine whether the measure is passed. Co-chairing the group are Civil Rights activist Henson and president of the local KKK chapter Rockwell; will they remain hostile from beginning to end or will common ground be established and grudging respect be reached? A premise as inconceivable as this one can only mean one thing—it’s based on a true story. Rockwell and Henson do credible work, though they’re just doing variations on earlier recent performances (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Hidden Figures); the material—regardless of its authenticity or lack thereof—is manipulated and contrived for facile impact, but that’s far more forgivable than the decision to focus so much more time on the viewpoints and personal life of Rockwell’s character than anyone else (after the situation is established, few scenes focus exclusively on Henson, and hardly any at all even touch on the students that this proposal will be affecting most directly). The cornball denouement would thwart a better film, but following all the easy and slanted maneuvers that preceded it, the moment just elicits a “may as well” shrug.

40/100