Freedomland (2006)

A black police detective must solve a strange case of a kidnapped boy and deal with a big racial protest.

Director:

Joe Roth

Writers:

Richard Price (screenplay), Richard Price (novel)

Stars:

Julianne Moore, Samuel L. Jackson, Edie Falco

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Lorenzo Council
Julianne Moore	...	Brenda Martin
Edie Falco	...	Karen Collucci
Ron Eldard	...	Danny Martin
William Forsythe	...	Boyle
Aunjanue Ellis	...	Felicia
Anthony Mackie	...	Billy Williams
LaTanya Richardson Jackson	...	Marie
Clarke Peters	...	Reverend Longway
Peter Friedman	...	Lt. Gold
Domenick Lombardozzi	...	Leo Sullivan
Aasif Mandvi	...	Dr. Anil Chatterjee
Philip Bosco	...	Priest
Fly Williams III	...	Rafik
Portia	...	Doreen / Rafik's Sister

Storyline

Late one evening, Brenda Martin, a thirty-seven year old Caucasian woman from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks, enters Dempsy Medical Center in Dempsy, New Jersey with minor injuries, but she is also emotionally distraught. One of the people to who she tells her story is Dempsy Police Detective Lorenzo Council, a black man. That story is that she was just carjacked by another unknown black man when she took a shortcut that she had never traveled between the Armstrong housing projects, where she works at the Rainbow Club, a children's center, and her home in Gannon, New Jersey. Her emotional distress is because her four year old son, Cody, was asleep in the back seat of the car and is thus now in the hands of the carjacker. Brenda's brother, Danny Martin, a police detective in Gannon, cannot help but get directly involved in the investigation despite he operating outside his jurisdiction. His actions do not sit well with Council, who he insinuates is not only not doing his job, ...

---

Plot Keywords:

police | mother | kidnapping | hospital | missing child | 

---

Taglines:

His Streets. His Rules.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some violent content

Did You Know?

Trivia

Michael Winterbottom was the original Director, and did extensive work before leaving this project.

---

Goofs

When Lorenzo and Brenda are in the car driving through the crowd, in the long shot the windows are half-way down, and in the close shots the windows are all the way up.

---

Quotes

Leo Sulivan: Let go and let God.

---

Connections

Features Wheel of Fortune (1983)

User Reviews

Most stereotyped film ever… wait, it looks quite real to me.

First mistake of this film was marketing (after all, it's all about marketing) Billing it as a thriller/action movie with some paranormal slant was wrong. This is strictly a psychological drama with zero paranormal stuff in it.

Second mistake was to make reality too real and not idealized or artistic to stay away of the touchy issues addressed: Race, police prejudice, social differences.

So if you went to the movie theater or the rental place to watch a thrilling action film staying right on the surface of entertainment and shock value, you will be disappointed. This is a nicely acted, well constructed and most importantly, realistic drama in which a white woman blames the kidnap of her son as a carjack conducted by an African-American male.

As far as I am concern, there was no stereotyping, just realism. There was no siding on the moralistic virtues of one or other side. Actually, this is a quite profound exploration of the reasons to lie, the be racist, to fear prejudice and to resist the fact that a social interaction between poor and rich, white and black, civilian and policemen will probably be fair in a near future… not now.

My only concern was to see Ms. Moore so stressed during 90% of the film, quite impressive performance. Just hope she doesn't take this as her type-cast.

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

17 February 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Freedomland

Filming Locations:

Red Fox Diner Restaurant: 138 Route 9A, Elmsford, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$37,665,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$5,833,562, 19 February 2006

Gross USA:

$12,512,886

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,655,628

Company Credits

Production Co:

Revolution Studios, Scott Rudin Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

113 min 112 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1