WHAT’S IT ABOUT
The true story of the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader. During the racially charged summer of 1971, Atwater and Ellis come together to co-chair a community summit on the desegregation of schools in Durham, N.C. The ensuing debate and battle soon lead to surprising revelations that change both of their lives forever.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
If this wasn’t a true story, I dought only a handful of people would believe it. The Best Of Enemies is a story that needed to be told but a lot of key issues that help the audience better understand the thought process of a Klan leader had very little screen time in order to show more racism throughout the town. That’s a very unnecessary waste of time. Everyone in America and the world knows what racism is and how it has and still does affect us on a daily basis. If this film wanted to separate itself from the other films in this category, there had to be more emphasis on C.P. Ellis’s life. He states that when he joined the Klan, it was one of the best moments of his life because he felt he finally belonged to something important. They should have expanded on this. When Mrs. Atwater is shown defending a young woman, how did she get to that point in her life? Why does everyone know her as the person to go to when you need to “fight” city hall. We get none of that. What we do get is two people giving each other hateful looks and evil glances until they suddenly like each other. In short, showing these people from different worlds does not make this movie entertaining, and telling an event in one town in 1971 barely makes it educational. As I stated earlier, it is a story that needs to be told but The Best Of Enemies would have been best as a special television event.
OUR RATING – NOT THE BEST OF FILMS 4.5
MEDIA
- Genre – Drama
- Street date
- Digital – June 18th 2019
- DVD/Blu-Ray – July 2nd 2019
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2:39:1
- Sound – English: DTS-HD MA 5.1
- Subtitles – English SDH, Spanish
Extras
- Make a Connection – Featurette
- Ann Atwater – Featurette
- An Unlikely Friendship – Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer