Jim Brown: All American (2002)
Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Jim Brown, Melvin Van Peebles, Raquel Welch, Paul Warfield, Hank Aaron
DVD Info
Release:
Aug 24, 2004
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Dolby Surround 2.0 - English
Additional Release Material:
- Audio Commentary - 1. Spike Lee - Director
Buy It On DVD
Reviews
Treating the [controversial] incidents with kid gloves allows Jim Brown: All-American to fit into the encomium template, but a more forthright approach is demanded.
What Lee does so marvelously compelling is present Brown as a catalyst for the struggle of black manhood in restrictive and chaotic America...sketchy but nevertheless gripping portrait of Jim Brown, a celebrated wonder in the spotlight
Once the sports and film clips run out, Lee doesn't have much more to work with than talking heads, and they aren't enough to keep anyone but diehard sports fans interested.
Though overall an overwhelmingly positive portrayal, the film doesn't ignore the more problematic aspects of Brown's life.
Only an epic documentary could get it all down, and Spike Lee's Jim Brown: All American at long last gives its subject a movie worthy of his talents.
[Lee] treats his audience the same way that Jim Brown treats his women -- as dumb, credulous, unassuming, subordinate subjects. And Lee seems just as expectant of an adoring, wide-smiling reception.
A well-rounded tribute to a man whose achievements -- and complexities -- reached far beyond the end zone.
As the movie traces Mr. Brown's athletic exploits, it is impossible not to be awed by the power and grace of one of the greatest natural sportsmen of modern times.
Lee's achievement extends to his supple understanding of the role that Brown played in American culture as an athlete, a movie star, and an image of black indomitability.
Since Lee is a sentimentalist, the film is more worshipful than your random E! True Hollywood Story.
News
posted by Tim Ryan March 23, 2006
Tension: it's the key to many a film, and this week's wide releases bring three variants on that theme. We've got a...


Top Critic