Django Unchained Generation Gap

Uncle Ruckus or Samuel L. Jackson?

I went to see Django Unchained with my 88 year old mother and 35 year old sister. My sister said mom wouldn’t enjoy a movie with such violence, but I reminded her that mom read all the Mandingo books and enjoyed each one of them. 

I was right. 

Mom and I enjoyed the movie and my sister was the one complaining the entire time. 

Django is a movie you will either hate with a passion or enjoy with a passion. As a conscious black, I don’t think any of us will say we loved the movie because slavery images are always hard to stomach, but I couldn’t help but to notice that most of the 50 or so people in the theater were black and most of them left with a smile on their face. 

I’ll break down my review like this… 


The Story 
Using slavery as a backdrop, the movie had a western feel with all the horse riding and gun slinging. The horrors of slavery were honestly depicted but not overdone. The cowboy-like gun slinging was overdone, not only by the number of shots fired, but by the overt emasculation of flesh and blood produced by those bullets. Overall, it was a love story with a hero riding in town to rescue the girl he loves. 

The Acting 
Four characters held this movie together. Jamie Foxx was the perfect gun slinger who reminded me of Fred Williamson in 'The Legend of Nigger Charley'. Jamie impressed me most when riding that white horse bareback. His partner was the good white man Christoph Waltz who helped Jamie find his boo. Samuel L. Jackson served as the Yassir Negro sucking up to the slave master in the big house. The real acting star was Leonardo DiCaprio who was sometimes charming and sometimes hateful as the slave master holding our heroine captive. 

The Directing 
Besides Reservoir Dogs, I haven’t liked any Quentin Tarantino movie, but he got me on this one. He did a lot of stealing as the movie had hints of 'Blazing Saddles' as Jamie was paraded through the western town as shocked white folks looked on in unbelief. Samuel L. Jackson looked exactly like the Boondock’s Uncle Ruckus. The final shoot out was straight from 'Scarface'. Tarantino got a lot out of the few actors and the sparse settings. 

Conclusion
I go to movies to be entertained. If it keeps me awake, it was a hit. Django Unchained worked for me. There were times when mom and I were the only ones laughing in the theater making me wonder how the others were missing the funny lines. 

That’s why mom is my favorite movie date.