THE BEST OF ENEMIES Trailer
Jax is a filmmaker and producer, and a film &…
Taraji P. Henson frenemizes with Sam Rockwell in Robin Bissell’s debut adaption of The Best of Enemies, based on the book of the same name by Osha Gray Davidson.
After informing us that this is based on a true story, the trailer ‘credits’ Henson and Rockwell in an unusual manner – as their characters Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis, respectively. This indicates that, despite its smooth cinematic look, the trailer wants the audience to appreciate the film’s realism in dealing with its important subject matter – school segregation and subsequent integration, specifically in Durham, North Carolina in 1971.
The trailer presents Henson, as Atwater, as the main impetus behind the proposed integration of Durham’s all-black and all-white schools. Meanwhile Rockwell’s Ellis gets set up as the somehow sympathetic leader of the local Klan chapter. The two are natural enemies, or should be, but all indications point to an eventual truce between them, which it is fair to guess does not go over well with the local klansmen.
The billing in the trailer is limited, again sticking with its “method trailer” aesthetic. Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell are the definite leads of the film, but they are joined by solid supporting cast, including Babou Ceesay, Wes Bentley, and Anne Heche.
The Best of Enemies is directed by Robin Bissell and stars Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell. It will be released in the USA on the 5th of April 2019. As of writing, international release dates have not been announced, but should be updated as and when they do here.
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Jax is a filmmaker and producer, and a film & tv production lecturer at the University of Bradford and is also completing a PhD about Stan Brakhage at the University of East Anglia. In the remaining "spare time", Jax organises the Drunken Film Fest, binges bad TV, and dreams of getting “Bake Off good” with their baking.