The Rosa Parks Story
The Rosa Parks Story
| 24 February 2002 (USA)
The Rosa Parks Story Trailers

A seamstress recalls events leading to her act of peaceful defiance that prompted the 1955 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama.

Reviews
CheerupSilver

Very Cool!!!

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Stometer

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

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UnowPriceless

hyped garbage

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Scarlet

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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plutus1947

It is sometimes amazing how the tiniest act of defiance can literally move mountains.SPOILER BEGINS This is the true story of Rosa Parks a young black woman who refused to move from a seat designated 'whites' only on a public transport bus in Montgomery, Alabama.The bus service in Alabama had made a rule that black people who rode on their transport were only allowed to sit in seats designated 'black' only, normally at the rear of the bus.Rosa Parks got on one of these buses and found there was nowhere to sit in the black area so she decided to sit in a seat which were for use of whites only.When the driver ordered her to get up she refused and was subsequently arrested, charged and fined $14.00.She immediately became a heroine to the black people in Alabama, and eventually the world. This was the catalyst which spurred Martin Luther King to start The Civil Rights Movement, which was ultimately to cost him his life.SPOILER ENDS The wonderful Angela Bassett played the role of Rosa Parks. This was an act of pure genius on the part of the casting agents because I cannot believe that any other actress could have played the part of Rosa Parks better.Angela was also one of the Executive Producers.The indomitable Cicely Tyson played Leona Edwards McCauley, Rosa's mother and as expected played her part to perfection.The remaining cast were flawless in their acting and the direction was perfect.I have no hesitation in giving this movie 10 stars and even though this movie was made 14 years ago I believe it is as relevant now as it was then.SOME FACTS ABOUT ROSA PARKS Her act of defiance resulted in the black community in Montgomery boycotting the buses for a year and none used them. They preferred to walk, no matter how far they had to go or what the weather was. This resulted in the owners of the buses rescinding their segregation due to the amount of revenue they were losing.Her defiant act also spurred Martin Luther King into forming the Civil Rights Movement.In 1999 Rosa was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the USA's highest honour. She was Inducted into the International Civil Rights Walk of Fame in Atlanta, Georgia in 2004.Had two schools named after her.Rosa died at age 92 of natural causes although she did suffer from dementia in later life and was interred at Woodlawn Cemetery, Detroit, Michigan.In February 2013 a no denominated (forever) stamp was issued valued on issue at 46c, This was issued to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Rosa's birth.

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longcooljolie

This morning, a cable channel showed "The Rosa Parks Story" since it fits in so well with Martin Luther King day.The movie drew me in and kept me in my seat until the very last scene. While most people are aware of Ms. Parks' historical significance, the famous bus scene forms a centerpiece for the movie which is deftly surrounded by events from her childhood, her marriage to Raymond, and a stirring scene with her mother around the time of the turmoil.It would have been so easy for such a movie to descend into preaching or overly lionize Ms. Parks. Instead, she is portrayed as a woman simply asserting her dignity as a human being. The casting for the movie was extremely strong since Angela Bassett (Rosa), and Cicely Tyson (her mother, Leona) are great actresses and Peter Francis James also does well as Raymond Parks.Through haunting flashbacks and a scene showing Ms. Parks's struggles to register to vote, the producers succeed in showing an ugly era in America's social history without over-sensationalizing. They also manage to show that many white people in Montgomery extended kindness to her, including a wealthy woman customer at the store where she worked and an attorney who helped out with the court case.Many scenes are emotionally stirring: you'd better have a box of tissues handy for this one!

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Hunky Stud

I didn't plan to write a comment at first, but when I saw one big mistake the director did, I was compelled to write one as soon as I finished watching. I am surprised that no one at that time said anything to the director. It was so obvious.This scene was about Rosa Parks who had to walk several miles in the rain at night, after the bus driver threw her out of the bus. She walked into her home without the wet umbrella. She was wearing some fancy looking dry coat, and her hat looks dry. Her shoes look shiny with no water drop or mud on them. Her hair looked fine and dry. When she took off her coat, her clothes also looked dry. Most importantly, after she took off her "wet" coat, her husband just hung it on the coat hanger with all the other dry coats. There was no water drops on the floor, either.The casting director did a good job by picking those few good white actors. I especially like the one who worked at the voter registration office, she really acted well, had that look. I also liked the one who worked at the white only library. However, the director failed to tell us what happened eventually when Rosa parks took a bunch of children to a while only library. We only saw them trying to check out books, but what happened afterward? Were they allowed to check out the books or not? This is a good real life story. If it was done well, it could have made the audiences to cry, but it failed to do so. The first half of the movie was well directed. After she refused to give up her seat on the bus, the story failed to focus the whole movement. It spent most time on her personal life. It should have showed us how her action led to the whole civil rights movement, what happened at the court, what other blacks did other than refusing to ride the bus. And what happened to NAACP, those people just seemed to disappear from her life entirely.

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leighabc123

(Spoilers Ahead!!)Once again, Angela Bassett does a great job portraying a strong black woman! She should have won an Oscar for all of the great roles she played in! I learned a little while watching this movie. December 1, 1955 wasn't the first time Rosa Parks was put off a bus. She was put off the bus in 1941 by an evil white bus driver. She had to walk five miles in the rain to get home! Imagine if Rosa Parks' husband didn't sell his car. We would probably have another person who would be the mother of the Civil Rights movement. It was cool to see Martin Luther King Jr.'s son Dexter play MLK in this movie. His daughter Yolanda King played Rosa Parks in the movie, King.

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