This movie is truly inspirational and gives African Americans a sense of pride over how much people are willing to fight for their rights.the movie is played by actress Whoopi Goldberg but throughout the movie is known as Odessa carter she played the role with not only talent but is an icon to all those who can't stand up for themselves.this movie creates a sense of reality on the cold hard truth during this time and how serve African Americans were treated. This movie makes people see how tough life was and instead of sugarcoat ting it or trying to play off such a controversial issue they display it for the world to see which is why I liked this movie so much.

This is a very detailed description of the Black Experience living in the segregation-era South. I don't how people could tolerate such brutality and quasi-fascism like Whoopi Goldberg's character had done in the movie. Nothing is neither sugar-coated nor pious and romanticized for your viewing pleasure. In the Long Walk Home, you can feel the hell of the Black residents especially the maids and midwives right down to their aching feet. You can feel the anger and hurt and fear of Cotter's children when they were encountered and attacked by three racist youths in a city park. You sense the burning hatred of white community ready to counteract the issue of Civil Rights and the bus boycott during Christmas dinner where the senior Mrs. Thompson clearly spewed her bigoted opinion at the table and at the very end of film not only that you felt like you were one of the protesters there on the scene, being taunted and insulted. Spacek's character shows a glimmering sense of naiveté, intelligence, a sense of hope and influence that the resistance to segregation had on a growing number of whites at that time. However, it seems to me that she is the token white sympathizer that most of these films have, although necessary. It's sad to see only the younger Mrs. Thompson and her daughter the only non-racist white people in the entire movie who bothered to question the segregationists. Sometimes movies like these are too brutal for the senses. It makes you ashamed that you live in America. It could be a little too overpowering. Therefore, why couldn't the director add a little sour cream into this 7-alarm chili by adding a scene in which Mrs. Thompson is not the only non-racist by have other women and children explain why they do the racist taunts and bullying because they if they don't join in the bullying "festivities" then they'll become targets/victims just like Mrs. Thompson and the Cotters.The characters for the most part were very convincing three-dimensional people, not stereotypes, clichés, thrown into the mix to inform the audience: "You are in 1950's Alabama!" The dialog has a tendency to punch your face and grab hold while doing so, refusing to be politically correct and soothing. This movie makes shocks you, intrigues, and makes you angry at all almost every other white person in the film. And it will! Trust me! LWH has the power and the punch and accuracy that the rather corporate -sponsored high school history lesson with a Disney Channel heart "Ghosts of Mississippi" seemed to be lacking.

While slightly outdated by today's movie terms, the film was well put together and gathered a plethora of feelings and issues that surrounded the black community during the time period. The actors chosen (especially Goldberg and Spacek) did their jobs extremely well, and the movie contained the subtle comparison of black families to white ones.The film's plot, set during a Montgomery bus boycott led by none other then Martin Luther King Jr himself, is historically accurate and emotionally involving--at the end of the film the audience find themselves angry and confused and relieved all at the same time. Overall, the movie, though not merited much by action scenes or intensely dramatic turbulence, is definitely worth seeing.

This movie should be shown to every White person over the age of 16! The reason I say that is because it tells the cold, hard truth of what Blacks had to go through back in the 60's and it's not sugarcoated at all. It's not being said to make people feel guilty over something that they probably never took part in, but to educate people in what most public school systems DON'T teach about. As someone of primarily Native American descent who considers themselves pretty educated about Black history, I myself was very shocked and saddened at the brutality that Black Americans had to face (and still do at times). A picture (or movie) is worth a thousand words. This movie would be educational to everyone who views it. I would definitely recommend this movie to others.