I`d never heard of the movie PANTHER until it was shown on Channel 4 tonight. I was under the impression that this was going to be a true story about the rise of the Black Panther movement but right from the opening titles the doubt was sown in my mind as the words " Screenplay by Melvin Van Pebbles based on his novel " appeared . Eh ? Novel ? By definition novels are works of fiction so if the screenplay is based on a novel that means it`s not a true story
Something else I noticed in the credits were some bizarre casting choices with well regarded actors like Joe Don Baker and Angela Bassett appearing alongside non actors like Chris Rock and Bobby Brown and as can be expected the performances are very hit and miss . In fact the casting matches Mario Van Pebbles directing perfectly since one moment it feels like a farcical comedy and the next moment a polemical diatribe on race and a moment later a docu-drama . I doubt if this was Van Pebbles intention , but I will give him credit since he probably upset everyone regardless of race by painting nearly every single white person as being racist while nearly every black person is an anchronistic home boy from the 1990s . Just as well no-one thinks this is a true story . Or do they ?
Something else I noticed in the credits were some bizarre casting choices with well regarded actors like Joe Don Baker and Angela Bassett appearing alongside non actors like Chris Rock and Bobby Brown and as can be expected the performances are very hit and miss . In fact the casting matches Mario Van Pebbles directing perfectly since one moment it feels like a farcical comedy and the next moment a polemical diatribe on race and a moment later a docu-drama . I doubt if this was Van Pebbles intention , but I will give him credit since he probably upset everyone regardless of race by painting nearly every single white person as being racist while nearly every black person is an anchronistic home boy from the 1990s . Just as well no-one thinks this is a true story . Or do they ?