Mississippi Burning

Audience Reviews

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John L @Jonas53 Feb 28 Great plot, great cast plus Aussie director. Riveting. See more Ian S @RT48225084 Feb 5 Quality performances from Hackman and McDormand but it didn't have the emotional weight I expected. I thought Alan Parker was an odd choice to direct such a movie. A good movie but not a great one. See more Jonathan K @aFIREintheattic Sep 28 All the FBI guys wading into the swamp pond in full suits lol Honestly, it's probably better than a three, but it didn't feel like a four-star movie to me. The third act, the climax, and then the resolution that they build and build to, just kind of fizzles. It just ends. The execution of justice prevailing feels a little flat. Maybe they needed more time on that part. Some aspects of this movie are brutal to watch. The imagery is harrowing, and it's not hard to imagine this period and connect it to modern problems. A lot of the hatred and fear is still present, just manifesting differently today. Overall, it’s a good movie, well-told, with a pretty solid script. One weird thing though... the romance angle between Gene Hackman and Frances McDormand’s characters. Super strange. He's almost twice her age in this. They don’t develop it enough to make it feel remotely believable, so it ends up just being real weird. Plus he basically just uses her. Gross. See more Alli S @AlliBumaya Jul 7 A film based on a true story, and portrays how cruel & unjust the events of the "Mississippi Burning" was, along with how brutal it was. A film portrayed very well & memorable, with a perfect cast, soundtracks that honestly shows how intense it was, while also making you super focused on what's happening, what's gonna happen next, and how messed up this time was. Like Gene Hackman really nailed his role, as always with all of his films and thankfully he won best actor for it which was truly deserved since he embraced it completely, as if he was the actual real-life agent who helped in the case along with William Dafoe, who also nailed his role & the actual agent he was playing. Even though it wasn't word for word, nor the complete real-life event & case, Director Alan Parker really did a good job in making as close to it as possible, despite having to shorten it a bit for film standard, nonetheless it wasn't easy either especially how controversial the film was going to be, and how most films don't surpass 2 hours, which obviously this investigation took many months & years so obviously he was going to have to cut a lot of it, and pretty much summarize and cut it into the major parts. Nowadays, you don't find films like these where it's based on true stories, investigations, events, and cases because of how controversial it may be, but truly this is such a masterpiece, one that really shows, tells & portrays, how cruel & unjust the events of the "Mississippi Burning" was, along with how brutal it was with a strong message as well that pierces your heart and reminds all of us how much cruel, evil, and dark the world was way back than. Thankfully, we came a long way from that. Also very sad to see the condition Gene Hackman is in now, as he's 93, but he'll always be a legend forever. Not only that but, he really did deserve that award for best actor, for this film, and the amount of recognition for this role, A film that is truly worth watching, even if you are not American, or familiar with its history, it really embarks you, shows how major this was & how it should never happen again, nor should it, how intense it was, and how it should never be forgotten either. See more Frans B @FransB 03/21/2025 Stellar performances by Hackman and Dafoe. No wonder Hackman withdrew his rights to the Silence of the Lambs novel after seeing a clip of himself in this movie, it made him uneasy about taking more violent roles See more Desiray M @RT18209033 03/13/2025 The two main leads were absolutely brilliant. I felt they really feed of each other. One is by the books and the other wants to do it his way. Then comes the drama and the injustice to make the audience get angry and emotional. To the judge letting the criminals off. It all makes to vision how it was back in 1964. I loved the one ups and comebacks they used. I thought that was hilarious. “You’re so far up my nose, your boots on my chin”. I did take away a star because some scenes were too dramatic, from the music to the dead animals. The characters were all very thought out and I truly enjoyed it. See more Read all reviews

Mississippi Burning

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