StyleSk8r At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Lachlan Coulson This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

kcrisenphoenix And a big part of why I couldn't like it was how poor the acting was. Every single actor. Not a good acting job in the whole movie. It was all so...stilted. I wish I could explain what I am saying. I mean BAD! Truly some of the worst I've ever seen. The cinematography was great. Really first rate. Sets were good. Costumes good. Soundtrack only one step down from great. But that acting! It was either over the top, or not near enough. Never once did the characters make me believe they were real. Randy, the man character, was terrible. I mean really, really bad. I don't even think it was the directing. I don't think he could be good. I feel bad saying this—but he really was terrible (I hope he doesn't read this). Marshall, a possible love interest for the hero, was almost there—but they made him use a very fake southern accent that just ruined it. Especially when he kept forgetting to use it and because no one else had an accent. So why him?POSSIBLE spoiler here...There was also this ridiculous sequence of wet dreams where Randy was constantly having to wash his sheets the next morning. But he was wearing flannel boxers, so I can't figure out how he was messing up the sheets. One scene he was fully dressed and woke up and had to change the sheets—even though he didn't have to change his pants!There was a lot more that made no sense. The hero's little sister vanished six years before and he ties yellow ribbons on branches in his tree to remember her. But he gets the ribbons from a paper box in the garden that somehow has magickally stayed brand new and white. Does it not rain where this movie took place? Or one character gets an STD and asks Randy to look at his penis, right in the front yard of his house. They wouldn't at least step around back?I checked this site thinking it would be filled with reviews that slammed this picture and I was shocked at the high, high ratings. I feel bad about saying this, but I am betting they are either fake or are written by relatives and friends of the stars. One person said, "There are a few scenes that are definitely a tear jerker!" Did we see two different movies? I got to the end without seeing a single tear-jerker scene. The acting was so poor I never believed in the characters, couldn't get emotionally invested in them, and therefore be effected by anything that might have been tear-worthy.Was it the script? Maybe. It is hard to tell. I don't know if the movie would have been any better with actors with above freshman in high school acting abilities had gotten a chance to play the parts.Poor, poor movie.

Samuel K Great movie overall, although the acting could have been a bit better at certain intervals. The ending with the dream/visions still has me really confused me though. However, I think that this particular movie stood out due to the fact that its more of a modern day film with a plot that revolves around a young African-American male who's struggling with his sexuality & religion. And a lot of people (in a similar scenario) who watch it can connect to the story a lot more than the regular audience. But I'm just here for the soundtrack, can anyone tell me when it will be out? Or what the name of the song is thats playing during Marshal & Randys sex scene? I've tried to Google the lyrics & shazam but still have come across anything.-Thanks in advance

marosteeha It is hard to describe how I feel about this movie.The acting was interesting, I won't say it was good, because parts were literally cringe worthy. But, it wasn't that bad either.The first hour of the movie is slow, but I quite enjoyed that, watching him struggle with his sexuality, trying to find peace between his very religious mother, his own religious belief, his problems, his friend's problems... etc. etc. etc.The last... 20 minutes or so almost killed me, I couldn't believe what they did. They decided to end the movie by stuffing as much as they could as quickly as they could in 20 minutes... like "omg you have psychic abilities? omg she's dead, omg she's back, omg he's dead to?? What did you just say about the future? Wait… That was a dream? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!!!" At the end everyone is happy, and everything goes back to being normal.... but WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED! Really bad ending.at the end everyone is happy, and everything goes back to being normal.... but WHAT THE HECK JUST HAPPENED! really bad ending.

Marc Davis Blackbird pulls at the heartstrings with a touching story of a young high school student struggling with his sexuality against the backdrop of small town Mississippi. To make matters worse our main character is being raised in a deeply religious household and his baby sister has been missing for several years. As you can image, this has caused a huge rift in his family that threatens to tear it apart forever.Young Randy, played by newcomer Julian Walker, must be strong for both himself and his mom (Mo'Nique); the latter of which is on the verge of a major breakdown. Randy's father, portrayed by Isaiah Washington, would like to be there for his wife and son, but it appears both parties have given up on the father for reasons which aren't really clear. Randy would very much like to help his family cope through these tough times; however, before he can do this, he must first learn to help himself. This starts by learning and accepting who he, himself, really is.In the opening scene I must admit I wasn't very impressed with Walker's acting but as the story progressed I began to see why writer/director Patrik-Ian Polk was charmed by the unknown actor. Walker ended up doing a fine job and seems like a natural. I think a lot of the reasons why I liked this film so much is because I see so much of myself in Randy. I, too, grew up in a devout Christian household struggling with my sexuality. I didn't have a missing baby sister or an openly gay best friend named Efrem (Gary L. Gary), but the struggle, confusion, and secret, sinful pleasure was all there. And that's what makes Blackbird so special – it's a real life story from the perspective of so many young boys and girls across the country that have secretly struggled (and still struggle) with their sexuality. Even in today's progressive society this can still be a taboo and scary issue – when it shouldn't even be an issue at all. Luckily for Randy – he eventually does figure it out and accept who he is. However, one of his high school buddies, Todd (and secret crush) shows up in a dream and foretells the future. He'll have some ups and downs along the way, but nothing he experiences, no matter how great, will ever take away from this coming-of-age period in his life where he figured it all out (his sexuality). And I know this feeling too: Nostalgia! This is what Blackbird captures so well. That said, I did have a few issues with the film – hence the reason it's not receiving a perfect 10 rating… First up, while Mo'Nique once again shows she's not just a loud-mouth comedian, her role was too close of a rehash of the crazy, abusive mother she played in Precious; maybe this time with a sprinkle of Piper Laurie's overly- religious Margaret White from the original Carrie. To her credit, Mo'Nique did own her part in Blackbird, though I just knew at any moment she would breakout with, "you sit there and you judge me, and you write them notes on your notepad…" Lord! There lies the problem. We've seen enough of Mary in Precious. Can we leave her in that movie? And this next one is just my personal gripe, but - no way in hell if I were Randy could I have been battling gay feelings/dreams and had an openly gay friend as fine as Efrem who obviously had the hots for me. This movie never would have been made because I would have figured it out (with Efrem's help) a long time ago...