Movie Reviews – I | Keith & the Movies

HEAT poster

“They call me Mister Tibbs.” When Virgil utters this classic line to Chief Gillespie in 1967’s “In the Heat of the Night”, the racial tensions have already been well-defined. And while the movie is a police drama/murder mystery, it’s the racial contention between a black Philadelphia police detective and the small Mississippi town that makes the film truly memorable. “In the Heat of the Night” won five Academy Awards including Best Picture and inspired two sequels and a popular TV series. But it’s the movie’s statement on 1960’s Southern racism and it’s strong black lead character that causes it to be recognized as a ground-breaking film.

The movie takes place in the small fictional town of Sparta, Mississippi. While out on patrol a deputy comes across the body of a wealthy business man. After ruling that the man was murdered, Police Chief Bill Gillespie (Rod Steiger) sends a deputy to look around town. While checking out the train station, the deputy comes across a black man sitting inside. Unjustly assuming the man is the killer, the deputy arrests him and brings him to the station. The man informs Chief Gillespie that his name is Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) and he’s a homicide detective from Philadelphia. Virgil’s captain back in Philly recommends that he stay in Sparta and help with the murder investigation. Neither Virgil or Gillespie like the idea yet they both agree. But the case may never be solved due the incompetence of the police department and the numerous racial barriers that keep Tibbs from accomplishing anything.

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Even though this is a crime drama, the murder mystery itself never feels all that important. The investigation spends most of its time looking in the wrong directions and when the killer is finally revealed it feels too convenient. This is the movie’s one significant shortcoming. A tighter more engaging mystery would have added another intense dimension to the story. But it could easily be argued that the murder mystery is simply a backdrop to the greater story of a small town police chief and a big city detective breaking down the walls of racism while dealing with their own personal biases. Steiger and Poitier are great together and watching their complex and often times abrasive relationship unfold provides us with the movie’s best moments.

The great attention given to the town and its citizens is another thing that makes the movie work. The small town South is perfectly captured and there was never a time I questioned its genuineness for a second. From its assortment of main street stores to its rundown parts of town, the film succeeds in providing the perfect setting. But while we saw the current day South we also catch a glimpse of the old South during a scene in which Gillespie and Tibbs go to question a rich plantation owner named Endicott. The drive up to the main house is lined with cotton fields filled with black workers and it almost feels as though the movie has moved back in time. This also leads to the famous scene where Endicott slaps Tibbs once he realizes he is being questioned for the murder. Tibbs slaps him back, something unheard of in that day. Tibbs’ physical retaliation drew attention from around the country once the movie was released and it marked an interesting turn in the way many movies treated black characters.

“In the Heat of the Night” certainly gets points for its head-on approach to the topic of racism. It also manages to keep the audience engaged by first getting us invested in Virgil Tibbs, then showing us the racially fueled obstacles and dangers that he was up against in Sparta, Mississippi. We also get a fantastic character in Chief Gillespie and it’s fascinating to watch him evolve as he fights with the community expectations and his own inner struggles. The small town vibe permeates every single scene and the hot and humid Southern summer makes everything sweatier and grimier. It’s just unfortunate that the murder mystery never feels as serious or as threatening as it should have been. That’s the only thing holding down “In the Heat of the Night”. But it’s something that did make a difference for me.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

“In a Better World” is a Danish film from director Susanne Bier and the surprise Oscar winner for 2010′s Best Foreign Language Film. It’s a provocative and multi-layered picture that delves into such weighty subjects as bullying, divorce, the death of a parent, suicide, and even murder and violence in Sudan. It touches on many of these subjects with care and savvy but this is also where the film seems to lose it’s identity. It’s hard to tell what ”In a Better World” wants to be.

Mikael Persbrandt plays Anton, a Swedish doctor and father of two who has recently separated from his wife Marianne (Trine Dyrholm). Anton spends a lot of time away from home working at a refugee camp in Sudan. Here he treats all sorts of injuries, many inflicted by a ruthless local war lord. At home his son Elias (Markus Rygaard) has been the victim of incessant bullying from a bigger kid at school. Upon witnessing Elias being ridiculed by the bully, a new student named Christian (William Juels Nielsen) intervenes kindling a new friendship with Elias. But Christian has problems of his own. He’s a disturbed and disconnected boy who is still unable to come to terms with his mother’s recent death due to cancer. Christian’s anger grows and grows despite the efforts of his father Claus (Ulrich Thomsen).

As I mentioned, “In a Better World” touches on a lot of themes but the film lacks a main focus. It’s most certainly a movie about bullying. It’s also a movie about the impact losing a parent has on a child and a film about the friendship of two struggling boys. But the word “violence” kept coming back to me. One consistent undercurrent flowing throughout the picture was violence, our propensity towards it, and our reaction to it. Whether it be the more savage and bloody violence that Anton witnessed in Sudan or the subtle and often overlooked violence in our own cozy neighborhoods, “In a Better World” presents it as something internal. The bigger question is how do we deal with it.

There’s a lot in the movie about revenge versus letting go. Anton is a passive man who would rather walk away than cause things to escalate. Christian convinces Elias this is a sign of his father’s weakness. Two different individuals reacting to violence in two very different ways. But such is violence that even Anton and his passivity fall victim to the impulse for vengeance. Everything in the film seems to be used as fuel for this one underlying theme.

While that’s what I took from the film I could be dead wrong. It just lacked the clarity needed to really impress it’s message upon me. But even though it goes into all sorts of difficult but real circumstances, it does so in a responsible and cohesive way. While several things could have used more attention, Bier makes it all flow together in a way that really kept me involved. The solid performances sold me on these characters and I genuinely cared about their situations. It’s also beautifully shot and features some polished camera work and great locations. So even with it’s flaws, I couldn’t take my eyes away from the screen.

“In a Better World” isn’t the perfect film and it surprised a lot of people when it won last year’s Oscar. But this is still a thoughtful and engaging picture that had my attention throughout. It deals with some weighty subjects and does so with sometimes brutal honesty. The performances are rich and pure and even when the script falls short in spots, the actors still manage to elevate the material. “In a Better World” may not have the depth and detail that some are looking for and that’s a valid argument. But I found it to be a moving experience that not only touched me but made me think. There’s a lot of movies out there that can’t accomplish that.