This movie is a very violent and sad movie--guaranteed to have an impact on all its viewers. Because of the serious and violent nature of the film, I would not suggest this for viewing by younger kids, though for teens it probably will be okay--provided you watch it with them and explain the context for the film.

The exact events that happened in this small town many decades ago are very vague. We know, historically, that MANY people (mostly Black-Americans) were killed by marauding gangs of whites. However, exactly WHAT sparked it and the exact events are muddled by time and the fact that there were very few living witnesses to the carnage. As a result, the ONLY reasonable way the film could be made was to create a fictionalized drama around the framework of the known events. And, as such, it is an immensely touching and effective film.

It's December 31, 1922 in Rosewood, Florida. The town is a mix of black and white with racial tension buried underneath. Mann (Ving Rhames) is a WWI vet newcomer who intends to outbid John Wright (Jon Voight) for a farm. The new year brings the racial tension boiling to the surface after a mixed race affair turns ugly as Fanny Taylor accuses the black man. Sheriff Walker (Michael Rooker) leads a lynch mob. Local Sylvester Carrier (Don Cheadle) refuses to be run off by the mounting threats. Duke Purdy (Bruce McGill) is the racist leading the charge.

Wright and Walker are the intriguing roles. I like the varied reactions of the whites. Fanny goes into bad melodrama territories. This is an intriguing telling of the true story. Some of it is terribly harrowing. Some of it goes too far, mostly Mann. He's a superhero. This may work better without him or a different version of him. As it stands, Singleton is doing what Tarantino would eventually be doing and that's a different animal all together. Cheadle is perfectly tuned by comparison. Overall, there is greatness here. It could be more cartoonish and turn into a revenge Tarantino epic. It could also turn into the darker realism of that true story. There is room to improve either way.

Part of what makes "Rosewood" so hard to watch - but I recommend it very much - is not only that it really happened, but also the thought that the events portrayed may have partly been the root of what happened in Florida in 2000. With this vicious racism so deeply ingrained in our society, it's no surprise that Florida's government deprived a number of African-Americans of their right to vote. For more information about these sorts of things, read James Loewen's book "Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong".

But anyway, this is a great (and I would say under-appreciated) movie. Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Michael Rooker and Muse Watson all do a great job in their roles. Definitely one of John Singleton's really good ones.