Henson seizes on every opportunity to boss her scenes in “The Best of Enemies.” But there are also moments here and there when she gives a look or a line reading exactly as much as is needed, as opposed to slightly more than that. Neither Rockwell nor Henson physically resemble their real-life counterparts, but if that sort of thing rules out a docudrama for you, well, you can rule out a helluva lot of docudramas along with this one. (His Oscar-winning turn in “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” no one’s idea of authentic American anything, took everyone’s mind off the movie’s problems, along with his fellow Oscar winner, Frances McDormand.) The movie version of Ellis, pumping gas (he was actually a Duke University maintenance worker at the time of the charrette), rolling around town like a baby Huey Long, works as a characterization because Rockwell does all this with unexpected subtlety. Rockwell’s Ellis enjoys the narrative advantage of the story’s most notable character arc, i.e., starting out in this corner, and ending up waaaaay over in that one. Babou Ceesay adds both gravity and levity as Riddick in supporting roles, among a nicely varied array of antagonists, Wes Bentley (as Ellis’s fellow Klansman) and Bruce McGill (as the latest in his long line of oily city officials) stand out. In a welcome turn, Anne Heche is effectively guarded as Ellis’ wife, more of a progressive than she lets on. But it does this, too: It sees this time and these people as reasonably complex individuals, all along the spectrum of extreme left and extreme right. The movie streamlines the narrative, cuts corners and has its share of routine, on-the-nose confrontations. Germain wrote a play about it, likewise using the “best of enemies” phrasing.) First-time feature filmmaker Robin Bissell, a producer by trade, wrote the script, which was “inspired by” (though not adapted from) the nonfiction account written by Osha Gray Davidson. “The Best of Enemies” is the latest offshoot of this little-known but seriously inspiring example of an ideological and racial divide, bridged by simple human communication.
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