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The actors playing the President and his wife did a fantastic job. I was sold on them being the couple. This was not a fast paced story trying to fit their whole life as a couple in a hour and a few mins, just the initial spark that would unite them still to this day. If you like romance films and want to know some personal history about the current US President and his wife, take your significant other and enjoy!

... agreed.

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I'm sure anyone who pays to see this crap still thinks he's going to open up the heavens eight years later.

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Great! Hope you enjoy. I'm going this afternoon, we'll see how it is. Sumpter is a great little actress, I think this one looks like an enjoyable, simple love story that I would've liked no matter who it was actually based on.

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While I liked the character of Obama and found him to be quite charming and engaging, I couldn't bring myself to like the Michelle character. I've never really paid attention to the real Michelle persona in real life, so I don't know how it compares to the real Michelle...But I found the Michelle character in this movie to be annoying and unlikeable. It could be the fault of the writing, or it could be the fault of the actress. I don't really know.

I would suggest that writer-director Richard Tanne wrote the young Michelle to be a bit of a "hard case"—defensive, disciplined, ambitious, suspicious, constantly concerned with perceptions. Part of the film's point is to explore how both Obamas, as African-Americans (but ones with very different backgrounds) try to 'get ahead' and make it as outsiders in the largely white world of higher education and corporate law. Michelle, coming from a traditional African-American background, emphasizes discipline, rigor, work ethic, and the appearance of propriety—almost to a fault. She clearly cannot trust easily, and she fears that others will use anything possible to manipulate her given that she is a black woman. Her fears may be justified, but she struggles to deal with them in an effective manner or to turn potentially adverse situations in her favor. Barack, coming from Hawaii and a more idiosyncratic, multicultural milieu (and having been raised by a white mother and white grandparents, after spending part of his childhood in Indonesia), understands the reality of prejudice and bigotry yet possesses a looser, more hopeful, more creative approach. He is not inclined to suspect the worst, and he seems more able to dismiss the potential negatives and seize on the potential positives.

So if Michelle is not necessarily likeable, I would attribute that reaction to the film's thematic concerns and character explorations. How does one deal with being a minority (in any context in life)? How does one deal with inert social forces? How does one deal with the possibility of prejudice and manipulation? How does one enact change? The film is sort of philosophical without being pretentious.

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I just viewed the film and came on this board hoping to actually discuss it—and I had to search and reach the second page before I came across a thread where that might be possible, although even here, some of the usual haters seem to have shown up. Really, what is sad is how hateful and demented some people in this country have become. Are these people's lives really so worthless and insecure that they have nothing better to do than to troll movie message boards spewing idiocy and hate? And this point has nothing to do with actual politics and respectable discussions and everything to do with the terrible aspects of human nature. These selfish, deranged, wretched, miserable people badly need to grow up, better their own lives, and show some respect for those around them.

As for the movie, I enjoyed it and found it "pretty good." Southside with You is limited in scope and picture, but the acting and writing stand out. Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter, respectively playing Barack and Michelle Obama, did a great job. Not only did they physically resemble a young Barack and Michelle, but they effectively captured the future president and First Lady's vocal tones, mannerisms, gestures, and sensibilities. The trap in such a scenario, however, is to merely engage in mimicry while failing to actually inhabit and portray the characters in a fuller, richer, comprehensive sense. Sawyers and Sumpter, on the other hand, really seem to capture the young Barack and Michelle's souls and emerge as full-dimensional people, not just imitations. In short, they both imitate and inhabit the future president and First Lady. I found the film's writing and directorial tone to be witty, thoughtful, touching (somewhat sentimental, but not maudlin), and mature. The film constitutes a "date movie" for adults, not teenagers.

But while the directorial tone is consistent, writer-director Richard Tanne does not give the viewer a visual feast. He mainly uses closeups and short-range shots, and while the visual intimacy is appropriate for the subject matter and the shots are not bad, the near-complete absence of long shots and the dearth of medium-range shots make for a visually monotonous, television-like experience. Then again, many films are shot in that mode nowadays, and Tanner's showcasing of Ernie Barnes' artwork represents a nice touch.

I would enjoy seeing any film about a future First Couple's first date, but what makes the Obamas different is that they constitute the first presidential couple to really represent modern America, where many people come from mixed-race parentage and 'date' or engage in romantic relationships across ethnic and racial lines. At one point in this film, the young Michelle teasingly yet genuinely asks the young Barack, "So who do you prefer, white girls or black girls?" (I may be paraphrasing.) I doubt that any other future First Lady ever asked the future president that question. Then there is the theme, also presented by the film, of how one deals with being an outsider—by virtue of being black (or half-black)—and constantly having a sort of double identity (a concept presented, quite successfully, three years ago in The Butler). This question was naturally more intense for the Obamas than it probably proved for any other future presidential couple, and as a film about a romantic couple rather than an individual, differences in approach arise.

At eighty-one minutes, Southside with You feels longer, but the film is engrossing. It never becomes cynical toward itself or sappy, and thus it never becomes cringe-worthy.

If one is a mature person interested in a thoughtful one-day romance about two famous people long before they became famous, one will probably enjoy this film, regardless of whether one voted for Obama or not. If one is hateful and demented, like many of the people on this board, or one does not possess the patience for an earnest, low-key, humane romance, then Southside with You will not be for you. As far as presidential movies go, the film certainly will not rank up there with Steven Spielberg's Lincoln or Oliver Stone's Nixon or W., but Southside with You is ambitious in its own narrower, quieter, more unpretentious manner. Rather than asking and addressing big questions about a president in times of war and scandal, this film is exploring small yet significant nuances about a future president and First Lady twenty years before they entered the White House.

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I enjoyed the movie. I'd give it a nine.

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