“Marshall” a mind-expanding film — because it’s true
Raider Times photo / Courtesy of Barry Wetcher
Josh Gad (left) and Chadwick Boseman in “Marshall.”
October 12, 2017
“Marshall” is a true story about Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer of color in the days of segregation who became the very first African-American Supreme Court justice.
The movie specifically is focused on a trial in Connecticut, where a black man was accused of sexually assaulting and attempting to murder a socialite white woman. Marshall works for the NAACP, trying to make sure people of color, who have been accused for their race, get a fair trial. His ideals focus around the idea that the fight isn’t around a single trial, rather it’s about law, and the representation of justice for everyone.
To be a lawyer in this case, he needs to work with local lawyer, Sam Friedman, as he is from outside the state. Marshall is unaware that Friedman will speak in the trial on behalf of the defendant, for the supposed reason he is a lawyer from outside the state.
Friedman and Marshall have to team up to find the best way to represent their case. Marshall has doubts about Friedman’s ability to win the trial, and Friedman has doubts about his own involvement with such a controversial case. Through these doubts, they manage to work as a team and learn from each other. Those moments in which the lawyers find the smallest of details are just incredible.
This is the kind of movie where you go home and process everything and then realize how glad you are that you just witnessed it. When we came out of the theatre, we were just thinking, “Wow what did I just watch?” We wouldn’t say that it’s mind blowing, but let’s just say it’s mind expanding.
We very much enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to most, if not all, of our friends.
“Marshall” is a very interesting and deep movie, and those are two very important components, but we’re glad that there was some comedy every now and then to lighten the mood. Now let us say that this is not a movie you go to see for the comedy, but if you have a movie like this with no comedy, then it could get depressing or too serious. So we were glad there is the comedy to keep the movie alive.
This movie made us feel as if we were there having it all play out, like we were Marshall or Friedman because the movie is mainly from their points of view, so everything they find out, we do at the same time as them. This movie doesn’t have much foreshadowing, so it’s not like we already knew the ending and had just been waiting for the characters to figure it out. Instead, everything was a surprise to us, just like it was for the characters.
“Marshall” explores mature topics without restraint, but knows how to present them very well. Certain themes aren’t the easiest to represent or discuss without controversy, and “Marshall” did a good job in the representation of segregation. Not to mention the movie’s mood is wonderfully done, from the cinematography to the music to the acting, everything is perfectly placed in delivering the plot.
Chadwick Boseman (center) stars in the new film “Marshall”.
“Marshall,” as a movie about law, really wraps you up in the plot. The court case is extremely well done and is very interesting to watch. Those moments in which the lawyers find the smallest of details and turn them into their main reinforcement for their side, are just incredible.
Though it was wonderful in its essence, “Marshall” lacks in certain areas of characterization. Thurgood Marshall is the hero, the one who appears and disappears, it simply would have been nice to get a little more out of his character. We would have liked to see more of who he was.
People who enjoy movies about civil rights or law, or ones set in a courtroom, will enjoy this movie best. Neither of us chose this movie for these specific reasons, but we still very much enjoyed all aspects of this movie.
It is rated PG-13, and there definitely is swearing, consisting of racial slurs, and adult situations. Because this movie is about a sexual assault case, there are some adult scenes that are very suggestive and there is also some violence, like fist fights.
This movie showcases the hero behind the scenes, like in “Hidden Figures,” which was about the rise of three African-American women fighting for their right to work at NASA. Both have a major theme of equality and fighting for rights, featuring the true stories of people who are examples for their cause. So if you enjoyed “Hidden Figures”, we recommend “Marshall”.
All in all, we give this movie a 9 out of 10 because we cannot stress enough how amazing this movie is and how much it surprised us. There are not a lot of movies that in our eyes that score a 10 out of 10 and are perfect and amazing. So there are some flaws with this movie, but in no way do they outnumber the amazing aspects of “Marshall”.
–Oct. 13, 2017–
