Well, this is a sombering movie. The book was supposed to be about "personal account of the lives and assassinations of three of his close friends: Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.". As you'd expect from only 30 completed pages, this film isn't really that. It talks about them in parts, but its more about James Baldwin's opinions on being black in America. It's a hard reminder of where we've been and how far we still have to go. Unfortunately it also seems lost, just throwing together nice soundbites but with no real over-arching point or theme. I came out of it having more respect for James Baldwin, whom I only knew as a name for the most part, after the movies nonetheless. But this just seems like setting images to his speeches and quotes. Which is fine, it's just a bit confusing to watch.

I do wonder why the movie completely ignored his being gay despite it being such a big deal in his life. The only mention in the entire film is an old FBI memo, thinking he seemed like he was possibly gay. It also once talked about how he dated a white woman and they couldn't be seem together. That's it. Was the movie trying to hide and even confuse this fact? I think this is a major flaw in the film and if intentional is actually gigantic downgrade. Being gay is also not easy for him and being gay and black? In the 1950s?

A flawed film about a complicated man. Lets say 6.5 and round up.