Gospel Hill (2009)
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33% of critics liked it
(6 reviews) -
39% of users liked it
(577 ratings)
Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, and Samuel L. Jackson headline actor-turned-director Giancarlo Esposito's ensemble drama about a small southern town still haunted by a racially motivated murder that occurred there thirty years prior. Civil rights activist Peter Malcolm (Jackson) was… More Danny Glover, Angela Bassett, Julia Stiles, and Samuel L. Jackson headline actor-turned-director Giancarlo Esposito's ensemble drama about a small southern town still haunted by a racially motivated murder that occurred there thirty years prior. Civil rights activist Peter Malcolm (Jackson) was at the peak of his popularity when he was ruthlessly gunned down in the streets of Gospel Hill. Thirty years later, no one has ever been accused of the crime, and Peter's brother John (Glover) has withdrawn from the community to ponder the full weight of his brother's unfulfilled mission in solitude. As John sinks ever deeper into a bottomless sea of despair, his wife Sarah (Bassett), an outspoken community activist, campaigns tirelessly against a ruthless band of developers seeking to transform Gospel Hill into a golfer's paradise. Realizing the futility of convincing her listless husband to help fight such an arduous battle, Sarah instead turns to newly arrived Gospel Hill schoolteacher Rosie (Stiles) for support. Later, as Rosie's budding romance with the son of Gospel Hill's notoriously bigoted sheriff thrusts her right into the middle of the town's long-running dispute, the developer's plan to pave over the past forces the locals to finally confront the ghosts that have haunted them for the past three decades. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Giancarlo Esposito
- Genres
- Drama
- In Theaters
- Feb 9, 2008 Wide
- On DVD
- Feb 10, 2009
- Studio
- Fox
Critic Reviews
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Stephen Holden, New York Times
So completely lacking in his eye for revealing detail and his ear for colloquial speech that it feels less like a movie than an incomplete first draft of a well-meaning if unsophisticated essay.
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S. James Snyder, Time Out New York
It's a familiar formula: Greedy suits touting high-rise schematics and targeting blue-collar citizens end up locking horns with a local firebrand. Guess who wins?
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Ronnie Scheib, Variety
The potentially thought-provoking concept of historical reconciliation is ill served by a half-baked script that reduces every cliched plot point to jaw-dropping levels of preachiness.
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Kam Williams, Sly Fox
A Sunday school parable about the difference between good versus evil. Can I get an Amen?
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Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile
Subtleties are thin on the ground, but the elements of social injustice, racial tension and character conflicts make the film engaging enough
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Cast
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Angela Bassett
as Sarah Malcolm
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Giancarlo Esposito
as Dr. Palmer
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Danny Glover
as John Malcolm
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Julia Stiles
as Rosie
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Adam Baldwin
as Carl Herrod
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Tom Bower
as Jack Herrod
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Taylor Kitsch
as Joel Herrod
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Nia Long
as Mrs. Palmer
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Samuel L. Jackson
as Peter Malcolm
- RZA