The cast of "A Gathering of Old Men" is quite impressive for a made for TV movie, with Lou Gossett, Holly Hunter and Richard WIdmark, among others.
The story is set in rural Louisiana and when it begins, a nasty white guy is tracking down a black man and he intends to kill him. However, the victim manages to get a shotgun and he manages to kill the attacker. Because the local Cajuns are a very racist lot, there are fears that they'll start hanging black men...using the clearly justified killing as a justification. As for the local Sheriff (Widmark), he doesn't want any lynchings...but he is a racist and a brute to boot. As for the black community and the white landlady (Hunter), they ALL claim to have killed the guy...making it impossible to arrest anyone. How will this all end?
The film has some good acting and is interesting, albeit a bit talky. But the ending isn't great, as the fate of the killer is never really determined....just the reaction of his black neighbors. Odd...but still worth seeing.
The story is set in rural Louisiana and when it begins, a nasty white guy is tracking down a black man and he intends to kill him. However, the victim manages to get a shotgun and he manages to kill the attacker. Because the local Cajuns are a very racist lot, there are fears that they'll start hanging black men...using the clearly justified killing as a justification. As for the local Sheriff (Widmark), he doesn't want any lynchings...but he is a racist and a brute to boot. As for the black community and the white landlady (Hunter), they ALL claim to have killed the guy...making it impossible to arrest anyone. How will this all end?
The film has some good acting and is interesting, albeit a bit talky. But the ending isn't great, as the fate of the killer is never really determined....just the reaction of his black neighbors. Odd...but still worth seeing.