Rosewood (1997)
88%RT Audience Score: 83%
Awards & Nominations: NA
In some respects, Rosewood struggles to present a full picture of the real-life tragedy it dramatizes, but it remains a harrowing depiction of racial violence
Rosewood is a movie that takes on the difficult task of portraying the horrors of racial violence in America. While some critics found it lacking in certain areas, others praised its boldness and the performances of its cast. Personally, I found it to be a gripping and action-packed historical drama that sheds light on a dark chapter of our past. It’s definitely not a light-hearted movie, but it’s an important one that deserves to be seen. Plus, who doesn’t love a good Don Cheadle performance?
Production Company(ies)
El Deseo Renn Productions, France 2 Cinéma
Distributor
Warner Home Vídeo, Warner Bros.
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
MPAA / Certificate
TV-14
Year of Release
1997
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:2h 20m
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Language(s):
-
Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 1997 Original
Release Date (Streaming): May 15, 2007
Genre(s)
History/Drama
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $13,130,349
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): NA
US/Canada gross: $13,130,349
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend:
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): NA
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): NA
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): NA
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): NA
Production budget ranking: NA
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): NA
ROI to date (est.): NA
ROI ranking: NA
Ving Rhames – Mann
Don Cheadle – Sylvester Carrier
Bruce McGill – Duke Purdy
Loren Dean – James Taylor
Esther Rolle – Aunt Sarah
Director(s)
John Singleton
Writer(s)
Gregory Poirier
Producer(s)
Jon Peters
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
NA
Academy Awards
All Critics (55) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (7)
Singleton’s main goal is the vivid re-creation of mob violence, and he achieves it expertly.
June 5, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Singleton’s boldness is invigorating _ and merciless.
June 5, 2020
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Harrowing this may be, but the concessions to commercialism rob it of much of its genuine power.
June 5, 2020 | Rating: 3/5
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Singleton brings the images and underlying psychological truths of American racial violence to the screen with a brute dramatic force that few directors have matched.
September 7, 2011 | Rating: B+
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
At its best, Rosewood touches a still-raw nerve.
July 6, 2010
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
TOP CRITIC
Rhames’ gravity and grace, Voight’s pinched anguish as he wills himself to do right, the moving work of actors like Don Cheadle and Esther Rolle do much to redeem this film for human if not historical reality.
April 28, 2010
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Undoubtedly a great movie could have been made of this still unhealed scab on the body politic. But “Rosewood,” John Singleton’s film of these events, isn’t it.
June 5, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4
Stephen Hunter
Baltimore Sun
The fact that Rosewood takes time to understand its demons is an uncommon touch for any film that addresses such an inflammatory topic.
June 5, 2020 | Rating: A-
Steve Persall
Tampa Bay Times
A unique and shining example of telling the stories of our past that need to be told, lest their lessons be lost forever.
June 5, 2020
VyceVictus
Birth.Movies.Death.
Action-packed historical drama; some violence.
February 28, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
Lynnette Nicholas
Common Sense Media
America has not truly dealt with the race massacres that happened far too often early in the 20th century, and this filmmaker, aware of that, did his part to raise awareness.
July 16, 2019
Lawrence Ware
The Root
The intentions are unassailable: to dramatize a forgotten injustice and sear it into contemporary memory so it’s never allowed to happen again. But the movie is long and didactic, undermined by the faintly pious air of an educational slide show.
April 28, 2010 | Rating: 2.5/4
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide…
Plot
The best private pathologist in Miami, Dr. Beaumont Rosewood, Jr., whose rare heart condition that could kill him at any moment fuels his lust for life, gives a second opinion when friends or family of the deceased are not satisfied with official police findings. His state-of-the-art laboratory equipment, Sherlock Holmes-like powers of deduction and quick wit are his main tools. He also relies and depends on his trusty assistants and cute couple, Pippy and TMI, and works with no-nonsense detective Annalise Villa, who doesn’t always go strictly by the book, to see the case to its conclusion.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
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