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Thanksgiving Film Releases to See

By Sandra Olmsted

As the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, several films celebrate the American Spirit in unique ways and also appeal to a wide range of audiences. My top three films to consider, “Harriet,” “Ford v Ferrari,” and “Charlie’s Angels,” celebrate a heroine who would “rather life free or die,” an Iconic American company that takes on a Goliath, and the American working women.

HARRIET

Director Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet chronicles the strength of Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo in an outstandingly nuanced performance) as she struggles to free herself, her loved ones, and then any soul willing to risk the dangerous journey on the underground railroad. Director and co-writer Lemmons, who was born in St. Louis, brings her magic touch of getting to the emotional heart of Tubman’s dramatic and amazing life story. Lemmons’ ability to touch on the African American story in America earned her multiple awards and nominations with her first feature, “Eve’s Bayou” (1998). In Harriet, Minty (Cynthia Erivo), a slave in the South, and her husband, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh), a free man, celebrate a letter that reveals she is free because the letter reveals that her mother was freed before Minty was born, making Minty and her siblings free. When John and Minty present the evidential letter to Mr. Brodess, the owner of the plantation, he discounts letter, destroys it, and forbids Minty to see her husband. Brodess dies soon after, and his son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn), who has a close and complicated relationship with Minty, decides to sell Minty downriver as a punishment for her faith. Minty’s faith, which is ties to visions she has had since a head injury from a severe beating, becomes Minty’s North Star as she seeks her own freedom and leads hundreds of others to freedom. To escape the being sent away from her family, Minty asks her father, Ben (Clarke Peters), for help, and he sends her to the first stop in the underground railroad. Although Gideon and his men corner her on a bridge over very turbulent waters, Minty chooses to jump into the swirling waters far below rather believe Gideon’s promise not to sell her.

Despite the perils of escaping by herself, Minty, with the help of her visions from God, arrives at the door of William Still’s (Leslie Odom, Jr.) Pennsylvania Anti-Slavery society and is taken under the wing of Still and Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae), who owns a boarding and resettlement house for the freed. Marie and Minty, who takes her mother’s middle name Harriet as her freed name, form a strong friendship. Soon, Harriet embraces the mission to lead as many of her family, friends, and fellow slaves to freedom as she can, becoming the one who leads hundreds of people to freedom while surmounting incredible odds with help from God. Beautifully filmed, designed, and edited, Harriet, a Focus Features release, runs 125 minutes and is rated PG-13 for thematic content throughout, violent material and language including racial epithets. Lemmons, who is also an accomplished actress, gives America a heroine of extraordinary strength to be thankful for and to remind us all of the value of freedom on this national holiday. Harriet is in theaters now.

FORD v FERRARI

Director James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari should appeal to sports fans and to those who see a good Horatio Alger success story as quintessentially American. When Henry Ford II (Tracy Letts), head of the ailing Ford Motor Company, is rebuffed by Enzo Ferrari (Remo Girone), the head of his equally hard up namesake company, Ford decides to beat Ferrari at his own game and in his own “backyard” by winning the LeMans auto race. Thus begins the story of how the Shelby Mustang came into existence. When Ford hires Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) race and build the car that will beat Ferrari, a story of American ingenuity, determination, and spunk unfolds, revealing the character of Americans as fighting hard for what they believe and want. The Horatio Alger elements hold true as true for Ford — the man and the company — as they do the Miles and Shelby because they have and continue to overcome the odds against them. Offering sports-esque emotional moments and auto racing excitement, Ford v Ferrari, a Twentieth Century Fox release, runs 152 minutes and is rated PG-13 for some language and peril. American determination and ingenuity showcased here should be celebrated this Thanksgiving.

CHARLIE’S ANGELS

Although director Elizabeth Banks’s Charlie’s Angels might seem an outlier in this group, Banks, who also co-wrote and produced, is on record as saying to the Hollywood Reporter that she wants the film to showcase and celebrate the power of women because the original TV inspired her. Kristen Stewart, Naomi Scott, and Ella Balinska star as the new Angels, Sabina Wilson, Elena Houghlin, and June Kano, respectively, and Banks, Patrick Stewart, and Djimon Hounsou play Bosley, John Bosley, and Edgar Bosley, respectively, who guide the Angels to victory. A young systems engineer blowing the whistle on a dangerous technology prompts the mysterious Charles Townsend and his international security and investigative agency to send in the Angels to protect the whistleblower and to champion the cause of doing the right thing to protect us all. Charlie’s Angels, a Columbia Pictures release, runs 118 minutes and is rated PG-13 for action/violence, language, and some suggestive material. Elizabeth Bank’s celebrates Americans’ strength in the service of social justice, something in which Americans have long taken pride, so celebrate the strength of American women who cook turkeys and make the world a better place.

So, as you give thanks around the dining room table or at the movie theater this year, remember what a great county you live in and be thankful for the sacrifices, strength, ingenuity, and passion for justice that have made America a great place to live.

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