Like many "white people," I fell in love with Sidney. How could you not? He was extremely good-looking, a dazzling smile, a dynamic presence on the screen, and just explosive and surprising with every turn. Watching a film with him in his glory days was a thing of beauty.
Oprah and her partners have brought together many people from Sidney's life, including his first wife, and all his children, and every seminal figure in his life, to talk about him. And perhaps most importantly, this was created when Sidney was still alive.
It's very powerful and covers basically his whole life.
The first part is a bit slow as Sidney himself goes into a lot of detail about his young life. But I understood why they kept it, because he was so shaped by the things his mother and father did for him and it kind of started him on his journey.
Seeing this amazing man and all the lives he touched and the very powerful (and scary) eras he lived through is very moving. Revisiting some of his greatest roles brought tears to my eyes.
And the guests! They had Lulu from "To Sir With Love" -- I mean, we're talking history! They had Katharine Houghton from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" -- where there was a prominent interracial kiss featured. "In the Heat of the Night" where an obnoxious righteous white man slaps Sidney, and Sidney slaps him right back (I'm white, and it was such a rich, delicious, powerful moment).
I think the reason I didn't give this a 10 is because of Oprah herself. I've noticed that when Oprah talks, everything is in superlatives and people and events "changed" her life "forever." All that may be true and I am sure she is being sincere about it, but if you hear it too often, it stops coming across as sincere, and even though she actually broke down and cried on camera at the end, I really hate to say this, because I'm sure it wasn't the case, but it came across as borderline fake. Then there is another moment when Sidney gives Oprah award, and at that moment, it's clear her tears are very real.
Sidney was obviously an extremely important figure to the Black community, for a long list of reasons, and that is made crystal clear in this documentary. But at the same time, Sidney was important to the white community, and, for this white person, I'd say it's because it was thrilling to see this beautiful Black man on screen in commanding roles and doing an amazing role as an actor. I love actors and creative people and I really don't give a f-f what their race or sexuality is. As Barbra Streisand says (she's featured in about 3 clips), when you looked at Sidney, he looked like what a movie star is supposed to look like. I agree.
A movie star is someone you cannot take your eyes off when they're on the screen; such was the case with Sidney Poitier.
Again, the documentary covers a lot of territory and they did to a pretty good job of condensing his life to two hours. It is definitely worth the time, especially for people who remember his seminal roles.
Oprah and her partners have brought together many people from Sidney's life, including his first wife, and all his children, and every seminal figure in his life, to talk about him. And perhaps most importantly, this was created when Sidney was still alive.
It's very powerful and covers basically his whole life.
The first part is a bit slow as Sidney himself goes into a lot of detail about his young life. But I understood why they kept it, because he was so shaped by the things his mother and father did for him and it kind of started him on his journey.
Seeing this amazing man and all the lives he touched and the very powerful (and scary) eras he lived through is very moving. Revisiting some of his greatest roles brought tears to my eyes.
And the guests! They had Lulu from "To Sir With Love" -- I mean, we're talking history! They had Katharine Houghton from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" -- where there was a prominent interracial kiss featured. "In the Heat of the Night" where an obnoxious righteous white man slaps Sidney, and Sidney slaps him right back (I'm white, and it was such a rich, delicious, powerful moment).
I think the reason I didn't give this a 10 is because of Oprah herself. I've noticed that when Oprah talks, everything is in superlatives and people and events "changed" her life "forever." All that may be true and I am sure she is being sincere about it, but if you hear it too often, it stops coming across as sincere, and even though she actually broke down and cried on camera at the end, I really hate to say this, because I'm sure it wasn't the case, but it came across as borderline fake. Then there is another moment when Sidney gives Oprah award, and at that moment, it's clear her tears are very real.
Sidney was obviously an extremely important figure to the Black community, for a long list of reasons, and that is made crystal clear in this documentary. But at the same time, Sidney was important to the white community, and, for this white person, I'd say it's because it was thrilling to see this beautiful Black man on screen in commanding roles and doing an amazing role as an actor. I love actors and creative people and I really don't give a f-f what their race or sexuality is. As Barbra Streisand says (she's featured in about 3 clips), when you looked at Sidney, he looked like what a movie star is supposed to look like. I agree.
A movie star is someone you cannot take your eyes off when they're on the screen; such was the case with Sidney Poitier.
Again, the documentary covers a lot of territory and they did to a pretty good job of condensing his life to two hours. It is definitely worth the time, especially for people who remember his seminal roles.