“the best of enemies” movie review

When I told my sister that Michael and I had gone to see The Best of Enemies, she asked if it was one of those white savior movies like Green Book.

Well, the answer, I guess, is yes, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy watching it or believe it’s an important story that should be told. In fact, at this point in history, I will defend anything that raises topics that desperately need to be addressed and ends with people who are racist/homophobic/misogynistic/Republican reaching an epiphany and changing their position.

The Best of Enemies is one of those movies.

Based on a true story (and movies like this have to be or you’d never believe them), The Best of Enemies is about the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson), an activist advocating for fair housing for African-Americans, and C.P. Ellis (Sam Rockwell), the head of the local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

The movie takes place in Durham, North Carolina in 1971 when racism was so matter-of-fact, it was expressed openly and unapologetically. Oh, kind of like it is now, thanks to our current administration.

When a fire damages the black school which Ann’s daughter attends, the NAACP demands that the white school becomes integrated so these kids don’t miss out on their education. Of course, C.P. and his fellow racists reject this idea, leading to an intervention by Bill Riddick (Babou Ceesay), who is hired to lead a charrette, defined as “a meeting in which all stakeholders in a project attempt to resolve conflicts and map solutions.”

I had never heard of a charrette before, and was fascinated by its protocol, which included citizens on both sides being forced to work together on a daily basis. I think this could actually be the answer to so many problems.

Yes, the movie is predictable but I truly didn’t care. What I got out of it — and it’s the same message I got out of a speech by a mayor of a town of both Israelis and Palestinians on my recent trip to Israel — is that world peace is only going to come through one-on-one interactions. It’s those small, meaningful connections with individual people that make us re-think stereotypes. It has to become personal.

Ann makes it personal when she goes out of her way to do something kind for one of C.P.’s family members, causing him to see her for the first time as an actual human being rather than a faceless part of a group he’s used to hating. Of course, the idea of the abused having to be nice to their abuser in order for change to happen is an issue in itself but it didn’t hurt her to make the gesture — she would have done it for anyone because that’s the kind of person she is — and the rewards were immense.

The performances are all strong (including Anne Heche as C.P.’s independent thinker of a wife), and the movie just may inspire you to find a more effective way to deal with those who think differently than you.

If nothing else, The Best of Enemies proves that if a black woman can make a klansman rethink his philosophy, anything is possible.