Freedomland’s biggest issue is that its focus lies more on trying to make a comment on the state of race relations rather than telling a good story. In other words, the movie is trying to be Crash, only without the memorable characters or story. Though the plot has an interesting premise, the story never takes off or gets the viewer involved. There isn’t much mystery and the racial tension is typical of movies dealing with the subject matter. On top of that, events aren’t all that well connected and feel like small mini-stories loosely connected into one larger picture. The problem here lies mainly in the editing, which absolutely kills most of the movie’s bigger plot points.
While Freedomland boasts an impressive starring cast, none of the performances are all that memorable. Jackson and Moore turn in the more disappointing performances (though neither feels phoned in, just not up to their potential), while Falco does a great job and has perhaps one of the more powerful scenes in the movie. Moore’s performance is hampered by her role, which gets a little too emotional sometimes. After her fifth teary-eyed soliloquy you’ll want to slap her silly and say,”Just get over it!”
Ultimately, Freedomland is a great premise that never really goes anywhere. The film simply tries too hard at making relevant, hard-hitting commentary that it forgets what makes an enjoyable movie.
