by John Zenoni
If you want to see an intense, edge-of-your-seat movie then you need to watch the film, ‘Alice’, starring Keke Palmer (‘Akeelah and the Bee’, ‘The Proud Family’, ‘True Jackson’, ‘Hustlers’) in the title-role. The story is about Alice and her family, who are slaves on a farm in Georgia. When Alice has a run in with the ‘owner’ and is able to break away, she ends up running onto a highway and passes out, as she's almost hit by a semi driven by Frank (played by Common). Frank is going to leave her at a hospital but when he thinks about what might happen to her, he goes back and takes her home as she doesn't realize it's the year 1973. It's by being with him and reading some of his books - she was taught to read on the farm in order to entertain the ‘master’ - that she learns what year it is and about the Emancipation Proclamation. She realizes that she and her family have been free all this time, only to be held hostage and horribly abused on the farm on which she worked. Needless to say, Alice works with Frank to confront her former ‘owners’ and go back to set everyone else there free.
I have to say the acting and storyline in the first part of the film was so intense it had me glued to the screen. The weaker part of the film from an acting perspective, in my opinion, is when Alice is rescued and begins to learn about the current year and Frank gets her clothes, introduces her to current music, etc. It almost seemed like two films in one, if that makes sense. But then I was thankful to see Alice and Frank on a roll at the end and what happens to her ‘owners.’
An interesting (and terrifying) note about this film is that director Krystin Ver Linden wrote it based on a true story about a woman who was still enslaved in Mississippi until escaping from her ‘owners’ in the 1960’s. Unbelievable!
I thought everyone really held their own in this film from an acting perspective, and while it was hard to see the abuse and hatred on display in the film, it was great watching Alice seek revenge and sharing her important message about people and freedom and equality.
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