One of the most shameful chapters in America’s ugly racial history is dramatized in writer-director Terry Green’s Heavens Fall, an account of Alabama’s infamous “Scottsboro Boys” trials in the 1930s. As the film opens (in ‘33), nine young black men have already been convicted and sentenced to death for the rape of two white girls, based almost entirely on the girls’ dubious testimony. When an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court results in a new trial, New York defense lawyer Sam Leibowitz (Timothy Hutton, sporting a thick NY accent) agrees to represent the boys. While he’s an unqualified success on his own turf, having never lost a capital case, Leibowitz faces enormous, if not insurmountable, odds once he arrives in Alabama. Not only is he a Northerner among Southerners and a liberal Jew among conservative Christians; the bigger issu, of course, is the South’s culture of racism, an ethos so endemic, so matter of fact, that it’s almost banal. As the trial of defendant Haywood Patterson proceeds, it’s pretty obvious how it will turn out; despite the transparent perjury of accuser Victoria Price (an effectively nasty Leelee Sobieski), the recanting of the testimony of the other “victim,” Ruby Bates (Azura Skye), and Leibowitz’s skillful dismantling of the prosecution’s case (not to mention the almost total lack of actual incriminating evidence), another conviction is as inevitable as the sunrise. Still, there is some occasional shading here amidst all the black and white extremes: the presiding judge, James Horton (a low-key David Strathairn), appears to have a conscience, as does Leibowitz’s court adversary, Alabama Attorney General Thomas Knight, Jr. (Bill Sage), who knows his case is weak but is hamstrung by the region’s racist “traditions.” As it happened, the trial depicted in Heavens Fall (the title comes from the saying “Let justice be done, though the heavens may fall”) wasn’t the last for the Scottsboro Boys. But this movie, with its period feel enhanced by its excellent cinematography (by Paul Sanchez), costumes, sets, and blusy musical score (by Tony Llorens), is a compelling slice of a very big but not very tasty pie. Bonus features include two mini-documentaries, one a standard “making of” and the other depicting the filmmakers’ struggle to withstand the onslaught of Hurricane Ivan while filming on location in 2004. –Sam Graham
Watch Heavens Fall Online Right Now!
Heavens Fall was amicable! You have to notice this movie! A cool performance by Timothy Hutton & Anthony Mackie make Heavens Fall a “must pick up” movie!
The surprising cast includes Timothy Hutton, Anthony Mackie, Leelee Sobieski, Bill Sage, David Strathairn. This cast just make Heavens Fall the more startling!
Ai Forex Robot
