'12 YEARS A SLAVE'

'12 YEARS A SLAVE' (R)

Written by John Ridley based on the book by Solomon Northup
Directed by Steve McQueen
Actors: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Lupita Nyong'o, Garret Dillahunt, Brad Pitt, Paul Giamatti.

A star rating or a comparison to other movies out there is not fair to a movie like "12 Years a Slave". It is on another level, a level that can't be reached by just any movie. "12 Years a Slave" is not just a history lesson, isn't good for you, doesn't attempt to compare itself to race relations today. It is just a powerful and moving story about one man's tale of survival amid impossible odds from evil. It has scenes that are more unsettling and horrific than just your ordinary melodrama about a slave. It will tear your guts out and make you cry and you will never be the same. There are cliches like gut wrenching that I can use but that would just insult this powerful experience.

"12 Years a Slave" tells the story of a free black man in the 1840's who gets sold into slavery because of a random meeting, wrong place, wrong time. His name is Solomon Northup and he has a wife and two kids and can play the fiddle brilliantly. He gets recruited to play in a circus by two men and on his trip he suddenly one morning wakes up to find himself in shackles and chains. He will be sold along with Patsy, who is ripped from her children, to Freeman who will then sell Solomon to a plantation owner and will be given a slave name, Pratt. Freeman is played by Paul Giamatti and we will be introduced to one of the most evil men I have seen in a movie. The man he is sold to is not as evil, even though his wife is, but he can't keep Solomon so he sells him to a cotton plantation owner , Edwin Epps, played by Michael Fassbender.

Patsy will also come with Solomon to serve Epps and Patsy and Solomon forge a complicated but unique friendship. The performances in this movie are outstanding including Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon and Lupita Nyong'o as Patsy who are amazing and give two of the best performances I have ever seen in a movie. Ejiofor has been an amazing character actor but here as Solomon he gives a powerful performance that will forever change how movie audiences perceive him. It is a heartbreaking performance of quiet pain and Ejiofor is perfect here, without him this movie doesn't breathe. Equal to Ejiofor is Nyong'o who is also heartbreaking and in one of the most horrific scenes I have ever encountered in a movie Nyong'o will go through an incident that will shake us to the core and Nyong'o and Ejiofor make it that much more powerful. Both actors give amazing and powerful portrayls and their intense performances have to be seen.

Michael Fassbender and Paul Giamatti are frighteningly evil and also give intense performances but not all the white men in this movie are evil. This is not a black and white world here and wasn't back then, a lot of movies about slavery unfortunately are shallow. You have evil white men or noble black slaves but "12 Years a Slave" is in another stratosphere compared to other movies about slavery. Director Steve McQueen does such a wonderful job of presenting all the characters honestly and not making events come off as too melodramatic. McQueen doesn't sugarcoat things and goes for the throat and I admire that. He just lets the camera and the performances tell the story. There are many scenes that are graphic, horrific and unsettling and McQueen doesn't go to cutaways, he makes you stare evil in the face for long periods of time. A lesser movie would have softened the scenes of torture and that is why this movie is in another category.

"12 Years a Slave" can not be summarized or categorized as a movie about slavery and it doesn't paint any of the characters in broad strokes. It is a powerful experience that will tear you up but in the end the tears you will spill will be earned especially after one of the most powerful endings I have ever seen in a drama. Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o are outstanding and their performances must be recognized. Steve McQueen never overdoes anything in his direction, he lets the movie breathe through the performances and the amazing screenplay by John Ridley. There are a few moments I didn't like, though tiny, in the storytelling but who cares. This is a movie going experience that will change your life and move you with it's story of one man's brave ordeal and journey through a world of evil.