Nothing outstanding or special about this movie really. In itself there is nothing wrong with its good and powerful, intriguing story but the way it all gets brought the screen isn't the best or most effective way.It's a made for TV movie, so of course it visually and technically never gets an impressive one to look at. Luckilly it still has some elements to compensate for this, such as the story but also some fine acting by well known actors who make their appearance in this movie. Forest Whitaker looks quite ridicules in his role but at least he really knows how to act and how to play his character.However the way Forest Whitaker looks in this is unfortunately not the only ridicules aspect about this movie. Even though the story in itself is good, it doesn't always have a good flow to it. It also doesn't always progress very convincing. For instance, the one moment the Forest Whitaker is against all action and involvement with the human right group, in the '60's, who fight for the rights of the colored but the next he does not only gets voted leader, he is the one that screams the hardest, fights the toughest and he is willing to risk everything, even though at first he was incredibly protective and kept himself to the background. Not very convincing. Also quite ridicules how all of the KKK-people get portrayed as evil James Bond-type of villains. On top of that, the colored people get all portrayed as soft-spoken, friendly cat loving people to help to make the contrast of good and evil within this movie even bigger. It doesn't really work too well for any of the movie its realism.I really like Bill Duke as an actor and I will love him always for some of his movies ("Commando", "Predator") but it seems that he still has a lot to learn as a director.It's a shame, since the movie itself is trying to tell a real good and intriguing story, that's based on true events. But the movie just doesn't make that much of an impact with it. It all got done in a very average and formulaic way. So it are not only the technical aspect that makes this seems like a very average and cheap movie but also its lacking narrative.5/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

The only nitpick I have with this film is that it is obviously NOT filmed in Bogalusa, LA. It also does not show the poverty of African Americans who lived and worked there - one gets the impression the blacks there were leading perfectly cozy middle class lives, save for racial segregation and oppression. These folks did not live in 3 bedroom nicely decorated, cozy homes. They live in what amounts to shanties and the poverty there is third world. Bogalusa is not some idyllic looking, charming small town. It is a very depressing, gloomy place, centered around a paper mill which smells horrible (and you can smell it all over town). By not showing this it disconnects racial oppression from how bad the economic oppression was (and still is), and it's always there.Other than that, the Deacons rock, and predated the Panthers by several years.

Deacons for Defense is a fantastic and quiet possibly the best TV-film I've seen. Every person in the US nows the story of the Civil Rights era, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and there opposition, the Ku Klux Klan. As the peace movement spreads across the south, Bogalusa , La., the movement is lost in the Klan controlled town.As the main site for jobs, the local factory is segregated and no high positioned jobs are permitted to blacks, unless the want to die over it. Marcus Clay (Forest Whitaker) is the head of the black workers and after a close friend of his is brutally beaten by white workers competing for a job, Clay decides he has had enough. With a small band of men, Clay is able to form a small, peace keeping army to fight the Klan. As word of the deacons for defense and justice spreads, the town is thrown into madness with the destruction of the local branch of the NAACP, the brutal beating of colored school children, and all out war between the Klan and the Deacons. But as violence erupts, all Vlay now seeks to do is to end the Klan ruling the town. With the help NAACP worker Michael Deane (Jonathan Silverman), Clay must now fight the powerful Klan and try to avoid the Deacons from turning into exactly what they're fighting against, racial controllers.The film is mostly drama with violence erupting here and there with a great stand off at the end between the deacons and the Klan. The film is based on actual people and actual events that occurred in the summer of '64. The film hits many levels of dealing with equality, racism, and hate. I couldn't think of anyone better for the role of Marcus Clay then Forest Whitaker. Instead of the producers trying to get such big name actors as Will Smith or Denzel Washington, the company got little remembered Forest Whitaker. His performance is unforgettable, with the idea of fighting racism and having to keep his own men from committing senseless violence against whites.The only fault and I do say the only fault is the use of Jonathan Silverman as the NAACP worker. I felt that he was a bit to bland and not enough depth and character to him. Other than him the acting is fantastic, the story is superb, and the overall presentation is incredible.Deacons for Defense. Starring: Forest Whitaker, Jonathan Silverman, Ossie Davis, Gene Mack, and Tyrone Benskin. 4 1/2 out of 5 Stars.

This excellent made-for-cable movies tells the story of a group of blacks in a small mill town who form a defense group to protect themselves from the brutality of the Klan during the dawn of The 1964 Civil Rights Act. The fact-based story centers around the main character played by Forest Whitaker (who gives his best performance in years) who was arrested and beaten by racist cop for protecting his daughter from being beat during a peace demonstration that turned ugly. After that you see his character transform from a "good nigger" who thought he knew his place to a man who realized that his dignity and family were more important than "yes sah-in'" and "no sah-in'" to the racist white townfolks. There's also good turns from Ossie Davis (I don't think this man has ever given a bad performance) and Jonathan Silverman (quite surprising), but the film clearly belongs to Whitaker. A place in American history that has gotten forgotten and buried over the years. A must-see for history buffs.