This movie had so many positive elements and wonderful actors. And perfect for the family. (ie: clean)It tells the story of the 1940's Sipes v. McGhee trial - the case which considered the question of the legality of restrictive deed covenants. (Restrictive covenants created segregated neighborhoods and kept blacks out of all white neighborhoods)
I was born and raised in the South and at one point, I did a title search on my home and my mother's home and found "deed restrictions" on both properties (one built 1928, the other 1949) that said "no person of African descent may occupy or purchase this property."
The movie begins with a black family (the McGhees) moving into an all white Detroit neighborhood in cover of darkness. It is night and they hustle to get settled in before the neighbors discover them.
Mac McGee (Roger Guenveur Smith) and his wife Minne (Lynn Whitfield) just want a nice home in a nice area for their two sons. They both do an exceptional acting job and you really gain an understanding of the price they paid to be pioneers in very hostile territory.
Anna Sipes (Linda Hamilton) is the white next door neighbor who is lonely and bored and strikes up a friendship with Minnie. Her hubby - Benjamin Sipes (Bruce Greenwood) is an overbearing jerk at times who is more bent on keeping up appearances than taking a moral stand for what is right.
"The Color of Courage" does a good job of telling what the McGee family endured in the midst of that long hard lonely fight.
The movie gets a wee bit slow in places, but overall, this flick is a solid five stars. And when our family watches these kind of films, I'm always amazed at how little my kids know about "the way things used to be".
This movie has the capacity to really open up discussion on these topics and also helps educate.
And it is a movie with great acting, too. The two McGhee kids were masterfully played but their characters could've been developed a wee bit more.
But this is a good movie and above that - a very important movie.
