The Best of Enemies

Change is worth fighting for.

Based on a true story about schooling in America. Two people starting from as far apart as it’s possible to be, Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis were expected to battle each other across the racial divide. However, the intense 10-day meeting showed how much they actually had in common - a life of similar struggles through poverty. Both oppressed, both from poor upbringings and both facing similar challenges with their children. What started as a story about people who represented completely opposing views, ended in an unlikely friendship and a bond that would change their lives, and the entire community, forever.

133 minutes.
No persons under 13 (Language, Violence, Prejudice).
Biographical, Drama, Period piece, On the art circuit

Not currently showing on the local cinema circuit.

Simon says .... Put your hands on your hips!

Credits

Cast	Taraji P. Henson, Sam Rockwell, Babou Ceesay, Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, Nick Searcy, Bruce McGill
Director	Robin Bissell
Screenplay	Robin Bissell, from the book by Osha Gray Davidson
Music	Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography	David Lanzenberg
Editing	Harry Yoon
Soundtrack	Available
Made in	2019
Produced by	Astute Films, Material Pictures

Official Site | IMDB page | ScreenIt Report | CommonSenseMedia Report
Scroll down for embedded trailer

Film and Publications Board (FPB) Report (SA)

Genre	Drama
Language	Moderate impact frequent demeaning language of prejudice.
Nudity	None
Sex	None
Violence	Frequent moderate impact psychological and emotional violence.
Prejudice	Frequent mild to (?) racial prejudice against black people.
Blasphemy	None
Drug abuse	None
Comments
These details are supplied by the FPB. If you have a problem with any of the above, please take it up directly with the FPB. Read the Classification Guidelines.

USA MPAA rating

PG-13: Parents Strongly Cautioned	Rated PG-13 for thematic material, racial epithets, some violence and a suggestive reference
Runtime	133
USA version is usually but not always the same as South African release. Versions released on streaming or DVD, Blu-ray or Video may also differ.

ScreenIt Report (USA)

Sex / Nudity	Violence	Blood / Gore / Gross
Guns / Weapons	Profanity	Alcohol / Drugs
Smoking	Disrespectful / Bad Attitude	Imitative Behaviour
Frightening / Tense Scenes	Jump Scenes	Tense Family Scenes
Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Topics to talk about

CommonSenseMedia Report (USA)

Suggested age limit 12 +	Positive messages	Positive role models
Violence	Sex	Language
Consumerism	Drinking, drugs, smoking

Ratings

Scale (Max)	20
What the Critics say
24.com Ilan Preskovsky The Best of Enemies bombed at the box office and received a drubbing from most critics, but the fact that it has relatively high audience-ratings is actually the most important thing here. Yes, it is, to say the least, uneven, but as a genuinely moving slice of crowd-pleasing cinema that also happens to successfully put a spotlight on some less-than-famous real-life heroes, it acquits itself nicely.	10
Metacritic.com 25 critics	10
Rottentomatoes critics 71 critics	12
Rottentomatoes tomatometer Tomatometer The Best of Enemies has the best of intentions, but they’re derailed by a problematic perspective and a disappointing lack of insight.	11
Movie Review Query Engine MRQE critics	11
CommonSenseMedia Sandie Angulo Chen Well-intentioned but one-sided race drama has iffy messages.	5
ScreenIt Jim Judy Enough of the film works -- even when it’s as predictable as they come -- that you’ll likely be okay going along for the ride down this familiar path where the destination is in plain sight from the get-go. Make sure to stick around at the end that features footage of the real-life C.P. and Ann and additional notes about their lives that continued after the conclusion of this particular chapter.	11
What the People say
Metacritic.com users 17 users	13
Rottentomatoes users 294 users	15
Rottentomatoes popcornmeter Popcornmeter	15
IMDB 2331 Netizens	14
The Movie DB Community	14
Average .. 59%	12