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John Lewis: Good Trouble

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John Lewis: Good Trouble
Film poster
Directed byDawn Porter
Produced by
Cinematography
  • Tony Hardmon
  • Keith Walker
  • Stefan Wiesen
Edited byJessica Congdon
Music byTamar-kali
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • June 19, 2020 (2020-06-19) (Tulsa)
  • July 3, 2020 (2020-07-03) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

John Lewis: Good Trouble is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Dawn Porter about the life of civil rights activist and United States congressman John Lewis.

The film was produced by CNN Films, AGC Studios and TIME Studios. It premiered in Tulsa, Oklahoma on June 19, 2020, and was released by Magnolia Pictures and Participant in the United States on July 3, 2020.

Release

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John Lewis: Good Trouble premiered at the Circle Cinema theater in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 19, 2020.[1] The date and place were chosen to commemorate Juneteenth, the celebration of the emancipation of slaves in the United States, and to protest against a Donald Trump presidential re-election campaign rally planned in Tulsa for the same day; the rally was rescheduled for the following day after widespread criticism.[2] The film was originally scheduled to premiere in April 2020 at the Tribeca Film Festival, before the festival was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3]

Magnolia Pictures and Participant released the film in the United States in select theaters and on video on demand services on July 3, 2020.[4]

Reception

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Critical response

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On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 94% based on 71 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "It's far more conventional than the life it honors, but John Lewis: Good Trouble remains a worthy tribute to an inspiring activist and public servant."[5] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100 based on 19 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

Ben Kenisberg, writing for The New York Times, said that "John Lewis surely requires no introduction", but the film "provides a solid one anyway, striking a good balance between revisiting Lewis’s most famous work as an activist and chronicling his life today". He concluded: "Although the film uses a conventional format, it makes an urgent argument: that a new wave of voter suppression has threatened the rights that Lewis labored to secure."[7]

Brian Lowry, writing for CNN, described the film as a "fitting if slightly disjointed tribute", and said that the film is "somehow both timely and timeless in honoring a man who has spent his entire adult life in the public arena", but added that it "hopscotches around a bit too much, jumping back and forth in time -- a byproduct, perhaps, of the volume of ground there is to cover". He concluded: "Lewis -- who is battling pancreatic cancer -- was not much more than a kid when he marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., and has seemingly lived three lives since then. That's why despite the documentary's uneven aspects, his legacy is ample motivation for any student of history to see "Good Trouble" as a good investment."[8]

Vikram Murthi, writing for The A.V. Club, was more critical in his review of the film, giving it a grade of C. He wrote: "That everyone, from voters to fellow politicians, loves John Lewis may be the only salient takeaway from the scattered, by-the-numbers documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble", and added: "It’s no surprise that Good Trouble, a tribute to a secular saint, incorporates some hagiographic elements ... What’s stranger is how Porter will sporadically acknowledge criticism of Lewis or cover less flattering periods in his career, then undercut them with affecting footage or good publicity." He concluded that the film is "an uneven paean to a man who deserves a more complicated portrait."[9]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ McDonnell, Brandy (June 18, 2020). "Documentary 'John Lewis: Good Trouble' to make U.S. premiere Friday at Tulsa's Circle Cinema". The Oklahoman. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  2. ^ Hersko, Tyler (June 17, 2020). "Magnolia Plans Free Tulsa Screening of John Lewis Doc to Combat Trump Rally". IndieWire. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  3. ^ Slavens, Roger (July 1, 2020). "Making 'Good Trouble'". Emory University. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  4. ^ Ward, Priscilla (July 3, 2020). "New doc "John Lewis: Good Trouble" gives nuance to a relentless freedom fighter". Salon. Retrieved December 15, 2020.
  5. ^ "John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on October 11, 2020. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  6. ^ "John Lewis: Good Trouble Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  7. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (July 2, 2020). "'John Lewis: Good Trouble' Review: Past Progress, and More to Come". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 18, 2021. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  8. ^ Lowry, Brian (July 3, 2020). "'John Lewis: Good Trouble' highlights the civil rights icon's remarkable life". CNN. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  9. ^ Murthi, Vikram (June 30, 2020). "The by-the-numbers Good Trouble shortchanges John Lewis and his legacy". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 18, 2021.
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