Review: Emancipation, a gritty retelling of the true story of an enslaved man, could be seen as Will Smith's way back into the Oscars. But its lack of nuance feels not only lazy, but exploitative.
We follow Smith as Peter as he witnesses and suffers through all the horrors associated with that time period. We see whippings. We see brandings. We see unnamed bodies dumped into a pit, covered in lye and burned. We see shootings. We see beatings. We see families ripped apart, and we see — in the middle of the frame, from an unwavering camera, without a cutaway — a man ripped apart by dogs.
All this happens as Smith's often silent Peter stoically runs across Louisiana wetland — pursued by Ben Foster as the equally impassive overseer and slave-catcher Jim Fassel. Ben Foster appears in a still from Emancipation. He plays overseer and slave-catcher Jim Fassel, who spends much of the movie pursuing an enslaved man.
The acting can't be faulted here: Foster, Smith and notably Charmaine Bingwa, who plays Peter's wife Dodienne, give grim and harrowing performances full of heartache and strife. Smith is even somewhat refreshing: instead of leaning on the charm and wit that got him famous, he strips away all artifice to embody a deeply religious man grappling with his faith in a society and culture set against him.
It's a performance that, on the surface, is perfect to get him back in the good graces of fans and Oscars organizers after he infamously slapped Chris Rock at the ceremony earlier this year. It's humble, stripped down and focused on the persecution of a self-possessed hero rallying against seemingly insurmountable odds — a recipe for success on the awards circuit.
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