Southside with You (2016) Online

2016 Tika Sumpter Parker Sawyers Vanessa Bell Calloway Richard Tanne

Original Title :: Southside with You
Genre :: Movie / Biography / Drama / History / Romance
Year :: 2016
Directror :: Richard Tanne
Cast :: Tika Sumpter,Parker Sawyers,Vanessa Bell Calloway
Writer :: Richard Tanne
Budget :: $1,500,000
Type :: Movie
Time :: 1h 24min
Rating :: 6.3/10

The film chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady, Michelle Obama, on a first date across Chicago's South Side.

Southside with You (2016) Online

The film chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady, Michelle Obama, on a first date across Chicago's South Side.

Complete credited cast:
	Tika Sumpter	-	Michelle Robinson
	Parker Sawyers	-	Barack Obama
	Vanessa Bell Calloway	-	Marian Robinson
	Phillip Edward Van Lear	-	Fraser Robinson III (as Phil Ed Van Lear)
	Taylar Fondren	-	Janice
	Deanna Reed-Foster	-	Bernadette
	Jerod Haynes	-	Tommy
	Gabrielle Lott-Rogers	-	Rafiqa
	Preston Tate Jr.	-	Kyle
	Donn C. Harper	-	Curtis (as Donn Carl Harper)
	Tom McElroy	-	Avery Goodman
	Stephanie Monday	-	Laura Goodman
	Eric Morgan Stuart	-	DJ Eric
	Deborah Geffner	-	Toot

According to director Richard Tanne, all of the main events of the film did actually occur on the Obama's first date with the exception of the community meeting which happened at a later date.

The first American narrative film to be made about the life of Barack Obama. The second would be the same year's Barry (2016) which was made and first released after Southside with You (2016).

The movie was filmed in fifteen days.

In the scene outside the movie theater screening Spike Lee's Elkis teisingai (1989), Mr. Goodman asks Michelle Robinson [later Michelle Obama] and Barack Obama if they think Mookie did the right thing in the climactic scene. In the DVD commentary, Spike Lee said he has only been asked this question by white viewers, and that viewers who question the riot's justification are implicitly failing to see the difference between property and the life of a black man.

The film was the official selection of the Sundance Film Festival in 2016.

Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) is seen smoking a cigarette in this movie. At Michelle Obama's suggestion, he quit smoking before his campaign to win the Democratic nomination began.

John Legend was inspired to write the song "Start" for the movie after seeing an early cut of the film.

The picture was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival.

The movie takes place in 1989 about eight years after Barry (2016) which is the other 2016 made and released film about Barack Obama.

The movie Michelle Obama and Barack Obama saw on their first date was Spike Lee's Elkis teisingai (1989) and the event is included as part of this picture and includes footage from this film which is seen within the movie.

In the Kenyan town where Barack Obama's father Barack Obama Sr. was born, the long-brewed "Senator" brand of beer has been nicknamed "Obama."

One of two biopics about First Ladies of American Democratic presidents that were made and first released in 2016, during the eight-year term of U.S. Democratic President Barack Obama. The biopics are Zaklina (2016), about Jacqueline Kennedy after the death of her husband, US Democratic President John F. Kennedy, and Southside with You (2016), the latter which is about the courtship of Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

The first name of later American President Barack Obama, portrayed by actor Parker Sawyers, comes from a word in Arabic that means "Blessed by God".

The make and model of the yellow car that Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) drives which had a hole in the floor was a 1982 Nissan Sentra hatchback.

Barack Obama, played by actor Parker Sawyers, discusses his parents and grandparents in this film. His father was Kenyan, from Alego. His mother, who was from Wichita, Kansas, was white, and was of English, with small amounts of Scottish, Irish, German, Welsh, Swiss-German, French, and possibly remote African, ancestry. Barack Obama was born to Barack Obama Sr. (1936-1982) and Ann Dunham (1942-1995) who were married from 1961 to 1965.

The film was made and released during the American presidency of U.S. American President Barack Obama (2009-2016; elected November 2008, end of term January 2017).

The two famous people that Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) said his parents resembled were as follows: His mother, Ann Dunham, he said looked like Patsy Cline, whilst his father, Barack Obama Sr., he said looked like Nat 'King' Cole. Both of the resemblances were to two famous singers of the 20th Century.

The movie is inspired by President Barack Obama's first "date" with the First Lady, the touching and inspirational romance. Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers star as the couple in this moving look at the very beginnings of the couple we now know as the President and First Lady of the United States.

The DVD and Blu-ray releases both include commentary with writer-director Richard Tanne and original art and animations from the film's pre-production.

This movie is set in Chicago where Barack Obama lived and worked in his earlier years. He is a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan.

The "Southside" of the film's title refers to a southern district of Chicago, Illinois, where future President Barack Obama worked among the poor as a community organizer. The Wikipedia website defines this region as follows: "The South Side is part of the city of Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the three major parts of the city, the others being the West Side and the North Side (there is no East Side, due to the presence of Lake Michigan). Much of it evolved from the city's incorporation of independent townships, such as Hyde Park. The city's "sides" have historically been divided by the Chicago River and its branches."

This major motion picture received the Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh rating.

Michelle Obama (nee Robinson), who is played by in this film by actress Tika Sumpter, is a fan of The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961), and this television series is mentioned at one time during dialogue in the movie.

President Barack Obama, played by actor Parker Sawyers in this movie, was born on August 4, 1961, during the first year of the presidency of another Democratic American President, John F. Kennedy.

Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) shares his "Obama" surname with a small city in western Japan, which means "small shore" in Japanese.

This movie is set in Chicago, Illinois, USA where it filmed and where the Obamas [Michelle Obama and Barack Obama] lived in 1989. The picture also lensed in Waukegan in the same American state.

This film is set before Barack Obama and Michelle Obama were married so the former First Lady is not known by this last name and is only known in this film by her maiden name which was Michelle Robinson.

After Southside with You (2016), Barry (2016) was the second film to be made about Barack Obama in 2016. It went into production about a month after Southside with You (2016) had premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

The other 2016 feature film about Barack Obama, Barry (2016), takes place in the year of 1981, which is about eight years prior to the time Southside with You (2016) is set in, which is the year of 1989.

On a summer's day in 1989, a law associate named Barack Obama used all his charms to woo attorney Michelle Robinson. Southside with You (2016) brings that magical encounter to life as it follows Barack and Michelle on a day-long date that takes them from an art exhibit to a screening of Spike Lee's Elkis teisingai (1989) to an unforgettable first kiss.

User reviews

Ustamya

The benefit of making a biographical film about a long deceased statesman or woman is we can lionize them at will without having the propensity of sounding political. Young Mr. Lincoln (1939), Wilson (1944), John Adams (2008) all concerned themselves with figures that were long-gone and if controversy was to be had it was a low murmur at best. On the opposite side of the spectrum there are the maladroit political screeds. Your Iron Lady's (2011) and Primary Color's (1998); movies which are to varying degrees satirical admonishments and ad hominum attacks.

Southside with You covers a third category which is exceedingly rare, especially in today's culture of "kill your Gods". The film takes place over a day in the life of a young Michelle Robinson (Sumpter) and a young Barack Obama (Sawyers) as they go on a first date. During their courtship they take in a community organizing event, an art exhibit, multiple walks through the park and a movie. While doing so they get to know about each other and plow through their insecurities, their family lives and their plans for the future. That's basically it; our first film fictionalization of President Barack Obama is not some big epic nor a under-the-radar satire. No, this film is basically Before Sunrise (1995) without the sexual tension.

As our two leads, Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers are dead-ringers to the current occupants of the White House; down to their mannerisms, speech patterns and general way about them. As actors they are both reliably charming, have great chemistry together and evoke sympathy with very little coaxing. I genuinely felt compassion for these characters and the layers of social and emotional pressures they face.

Which is just as well because the script is about as heavy-handed and clunky as a Sunday school sermon. Within the first five minutes we know that we're going to spend our time with interesting people because their resumes were pretty much announced like they were on a dating show. Here's Michelle Robinson who matriculated from Princeton before getting her Junior Doctorates from Harvard Law. Her brother is a basketball coach at Brown and her dad has MS. Young Barack is a young summer associate who is going to Harvard Law and was born in Hawaii. He briefly worked as a Gardens community organizer while going to Columbia and for a young man he's surprisingly well traveled. He likes pie and hates ice cream.

As they get to know each other, the poorly concealed wounds of an absent father and a bi-racial upbringing keep the drama alive though for the most part writer/director Richard Tanne goes through great pains to make Obama look like the patron Saint of Chicago's southside. Granted even terrible people put their best foot forward when on a first date but man this guy lays it on thick. Every time Michelle meets one of his friends they keep nudging her and saying "he's a keeper". She replies "We're not dating," because of course she would. Cue the heartfelt speech about working together and not judging people before you get to know them; and kiss in three, two...

Now apparently a lot of the events of the film are true to life. Barack Obama was a summer associate at the law firm Michelle was working at and Michelle did initially refuse to go on a date with him. They did in-fact see Do the Right Thing (1989) and did in-fact go get Baskin Robbins afterward. Yet if these two characters were purely fictional, chances are you'd be bored out of your mind watching this movie. If ever there was an example of a true story that isn't interesting enough to be a movie, this is clearly it; especially given the "will they or won't they" tension that actually makes movies like these bearable is absent.

Southside with You is an innocent, easily digestible and easily forgettable puff piece on the level of a Teen Beat article asking Sasha who her favorite One Direction member is. That in itself is not the worst thing in the world, but given that the real life Obama is still a lightning rod of controversy, this film is quite the letdown by comparison.

Lightwind

Once you get over the weirdness of the fact that you're watching a movie about Barack and Michelle Obama's first date, this is an utterly charming and smart movie. I'm not sure how much of this is based on fact and how much of it is imagined (I assume most of the biographical details were fished out of Obama's autobiographies), but it imagines the two in their late 20s in Chicago in 1989. She doesn't want it to be a date, but he clearly does, so they do the dance. The film characterizes both Barack and Michelle beautifully - it's easy to momentarily forget who these people will become and just see them as complex human beings. The film is also one of the best about race in America - it doesn't shy away from those issues at all, and has a lot of intelligent discourse on the subject (it's quite disappointing that the writer/director is a white man, but thankfully he is a smart, sensitive white man). Saving the best for last, man, do the two leads, Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers, knock it out of the park. Sawyers nails not only the way the future President speaks, but also his fantastic charisma. Sumpter may not quite come off as a perfect copy of Michelle, but she builds the character beautifully. Definitely one of the year's best films.

Hulis

I saw this film yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the actors captured the essence of the Obamas wonderfully; what they may have lacked in appearance they certainly had in spirit.

The movie that kept popping into my head while watching Southside With You was My Dinner with Andre. Now some may find that a stretch but really it's not. It's been a long time since I've watch two adults on screen having a conversation for ninety minutes. I found the conversation interesting and compelling. (The other movie that comes to mind is Mind Walk)

A lot of folks will skip this film because it lacks over-the-top drama, action and violence. This movie is for a mature audience but for different reasons. It is insightful and intelligent and you'll be glad that you saw if indeed you do.

Acrobat

Long time since I've seen anything like that.

It's hard to believe that anyone would even try to film two (adult) actors actually talking with each other...not just for a few moments, but...virtually the whole movie [97%]. Another hour would NOT have been enough for me.

I wonder what a multiple part sequel series would look like. Same writer, but different directors. Maybe to actually follow Michelle and Barack various moments in time / day in the life etc.

We now know how B.O. got her attention, but...what was the next critical relationship pivot...?

Great concept and...brilliant "...capturing a moment in time" writing.

Giamah

The Kennedys had Camelot. The Carters had the peanut farm. The Johnsons had The Ranch. All of them were created for sycophantic followers who just had to believe the a Kennedy was faithful, the Carter was just one of them, and the Johnsons were honest. Southside is the same genre. M & B are omg just like us and they are so cute and wow aren't they so smart. Fact is that this has less reality when it comes to tone than Bambi is the definitive work on the life cycle of white tail deer. Two types will go see this. Those who are already hooked on the Obama crack pipe and those who are forced to enter the theater to avoid some sort of apocalypse outside. It is pure dreck.

Dancing Lion

This is one of the worst films I've ever seen. And it's not that it's about the Obamas, or that it's political (it's not), or even that it is almost unbelievable (in spite of the fact that everything really did happen at some point). It's that the producer-writer-director is so obviously infatuated with the Obamas that he ended up making a movie which comes off as one big, fat, sloppy kiss. The movie spans one afternoon and evening. There's no conflict, there's no character development, there's no new information. The actors are well cast, and they do the best they can with what they're given. That may make for a sweet photo montage, but it doesn't tell a story (which has already been told many times anyway). Even if every incident depicted happened in the space of one day (which they almost certainly did not), no one would believe it. If there is one cliché that was missed, there was no place left to put it. If there was room for one more tracking shot, the audience would fall asleep. In short, if you are head-over-heels in love with the Obamas, you may love this outing. Otherwise....

Bad Sunny

Southside with You tries to tell the romantic story of Obama and Michelle's relationship by giving us a deep look into the lives of the future best family in the U.S, but sadly it falters a bit as it tries to make the romance interesting with thought provoking debates about the world and there clashing ideals. The film just lacks a lot of focus on what it wants to really be and how much of the story it wants to tell.

The acting is actually the best part of the film as Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers really try there best to the weak script compelling and interesting to see. There chemistry is quite incompatible and makes for a fun and engaging experience to see portrayed on the screen.

But good chemistry can't save a pretty meh script and pretty average directing done by Richard Tanne. The film just can't engage you enough and instead feels dull and also really boring to watch as well.

Overall Southside by You tries to be interesting but misses the mark

Lbe

This film tells the story of how Barack Obama meets Michelle, his future wife, in the Southside of Chicago. They work in the same law firm, meet up for a day of activities, and get to know each other better.

"Southside with You" reminds me of the "Before Sunrise" series, where two people walk around and talk all the time. People say this kind of film is romantic, but I find them very boring. "Southside with You" is very similar, but with one slight difference - it showcases how brilliant and clever Obama is, and hence he wins Michelle's tough and seemingly impenetrable heart. I cannot say I enjoyed the film so much, though I am impressed by how eloquent Obama is portrayed to be. Having this film made around this time makes people wonder whether there is any political reason for it. To sum up, I do not think this is my type of film.

Utchanat

Richard Tanne's 'Southside with You' is a pleasant surprise. A Small Little Gem, that's both charming & engrossing. And if you even thought watching the former U.S President & His Wife/Former First Lady going on their first date as a rather uninteresting concept for a film ...think again!

'Southside with You' Synopsis: The film chronicles the summer 1989 afternoon when the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady, Michelle Obama, on a first date across Chicago's South Side.

'Southside with You' is a delightful tale of 2 people who went on to create history. You watch & observe them. Its all heart. 'Southside with You' is a love-story, but it also covers themes of racism & how America was back in the late 1980's. Although done subtly, the message is out loud and clear. Obama's Voice for equality & patience, is shown in great strength & it also shows us a leader who later came into power, because he knew the drill.

Tanne's Screenplay is excellent. The Writing is of Superior Quality. Not for a minute, does the Writing take a dip, its consistently crisp. Tanne's Direction, too, is superb. He's handled the film with precision. Cinematography is perfect. Editing is neat, culminating the film within a sharp 84-minutes. Art & Costume Design are perfectly done.

Performance-Wise: Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as a young Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson, respectively, bring in their A-Game. Parker is a revelation, channeling Obama with grit & tenderness. Tika is a live-wire, She portrays Michelle, with unmistakably honesty. Both the actors, deserve more work in the movies. They've got the stuff.

On the whole, 'Southside with You' is Magnificent. Don't dare to miss it.

And yes, I do miss the America when Obama was President!

WtePSeLNaGAyko

The production and photography are very good, so you can see that a considerable amount of money was spent in this film.

It has good moments, good acting also, but at the end it becomes clear that as a propaganda movie for Michelle Obama to run as the democrat candidate in 2020. Everyone knows how popular Mrs. Obama is, and the movie was made to show other sides of her in a wave of appeals to emotion and tries very hard to make her larger than life, the perfection goal to all human beings.

And that's the moment when it lost me. The movie becomes something you would see in a TV commercial that has that voice at the end saying "Michelle Obama approves this ad".

Well, that's it, didn't like it. Too fake and "robotic" to my taste.

Samowar

I gave this movie 3 stars for the handful of facts that I learned about the Obamas that I thought were interesting. That being said, I remember watching an Asian film in college where the story followed an old man and a boy, with no one speaking the entire film; that was way less boring than this film. There is so much that I wanted to learn about this couple and their family that the film leaves out because it only tells the story of their first date. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I hope this isn't the last movie about the Obama family, because this one doesn't allow the audience to get to know very much at all.

Welahza

After meeting people who actually grew up with the characters and hearing what their lives were really like, this was 100% fabricated. Not at all believable. I would not waste my time or my money. I cannot figure out why any producer would place their money on this movie. It was sappy and unreal in almost every way. The characters did not accurately portray the real people in any way. Not physically, not in gesture or in persona. It was so fake and so phony it almost appears to be political propaganda material. I prefer to watch biographical movies that are at least based on some sort of reality. If I want to watch fiction, I will go to a fictional movie. We had to leave the theater before it was over. Truly horrible.

Otrytrerl

I was prepared for so much more in this film and there was not. It was a first date that I could have missed. I love the couple (fictional and non Fictional) however the movie was uninteresting. I could have wait for the DVD. THUMBS DOWN! I can't wait to view Don't breathe And Ben- Hur, Im sure I will be much more entertained. Love ya TIKA but this film did not make a splash with me. I did like the way they made sure to remind us of the nasty habit that our President use to have with those cigarettes, they made sure to put one in his mouth more then often. The car was the high light of the film really because it reminded us that he really was Southside Chicago. And at one point one could walk the southside streets. My cousins and I did when I was coming up and would visit every summer.

AGAD

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Southside with You" (2016) is a one charming, smart and very good film. Just recently i saw another very good movie about Barack Obama "Barry", which was a fascinating character study film. "Southside" is more of a romantic film, but it also has some good character study elements. Because "Barry" took place in 1981 and this movie takes place in 1989, watching "Southside with You" i couldn't shake a feeling that i'm watching a sequel to "Barry".

Acting by both two leads were incredibly good, even great. Parker Sawyers who has big resemblance to Barack Obama simply embodies him - this is an amazing performance and chemistry between the two were superb. Writing and directing were also highly solid, at running time 1 h 16 min (this is pretty short movie) it didn't dragged for a second.

Overall, "Southside with You" is a smart, amazingly acted, superbly crafted and utterly charming little movie. Don't think about politics and just enjoy the film itself, it is very good one.

spacebreeze

Writer/director Richard Tanne's "Southside With You" is a sweet, wonderful, and romantic first date film. Yes the characters are iconic, but they're written in such a way that their life and struggle resonate with any two people just trying to get to know each other. Great performances by its two leads, Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter, "Southside With You" is a rare gem.

The story loosely recounts how Barack and Michelle Robinson first met in the summer of 1989. Barack Obama (Parker Sawyers) was just a young law firm associate and Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter) is a tough lawyer who's supposed to mentor him. But Barack has an agenda, he's trying to woo Michelle who herself is not interested in the prospect of dating, she has ambition career. But the long day of them hanging out together from the art institute to watching a movie ultimately leads to their first kiss.

One of the many things I love about this film is that it feels so disarming, so relaxed, your guards are down because you don't have to expect some big spectacle to show up from around the corner. It's just two people walking and talking, like Richard Linklater's "Before Sunrise," and so you're invested in the characters, you get to know them just as they themselves get to know each other. There's some big themes tackled in "Soutside With You" like Michelle Robinson feeling angry because the fact that she's a woman and she's black may give her obstacles in her career, and Barack is angry at her biological father having left him and his mom, so there are deeply rooted personal issues that audiences can relate to, which makes these iconic characters all the more human, and writer/director Richard Tanne approaches in a calmed, subtle yet firm and profound manner. And part of its success is also because actors Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers are more focused on creating the characters written on the pages of the script as opposed to mimicking, so the result that you get is the embodiment of these character's essence, not impersonation, not caricature. And I love how it doesn't fall into the generics of Hollywood rom-com where there's usually lots of gags and other attempts that try too hard to make you laugh. "Southside With You" is just a sweet little film that helps you breathe, you watch it and your stress level goes down. Despite your political views or what you may think of President Obama's administration, when you watch "Southside With You," I guarantee you'll fall in love with it right away.

-- Rama's Screen --

Coiwield

When I saw the trailer a few mouths back I knew I had to see it. It was just about a random women preparing to go out with a college from work, then you discover she's Michelle Robinson and her colleague is Barack Obama.

It was the best first date every caught on picture.

I like the fact that I feel I did not learn anything new about the President of the United States. Southside with You has taken the man I've seen for the past 8 years and put that personality on celluloid accurately to what I already know. There was no surprise coming as Barack explain to Michelle his anger towards his father, his upbringing before college, and where he wants his life to go. Brilliantly played by Parker Sawyers, Barry O is easy to parody, but Sawyers was able to really capture the man without doing that.

What I also liked about the movie is what it told me about Michelle Robinson, a strong black woman also trying to find her way in life. Not satisfied with where her life is going and knowing she wants more out of it. Tika Sumpter did a good job show casing a career orientated woman focus on being more than just the black woman at her law firm and feeling a relationship with Obama would change that. Making her stand offish at first to his natural charm.

It's funny. It's a tale as old as time: boy likes girl, girl's not having it, boy tricks girl into date, girl keeps saying it's not a date, and boy has to put on the charm in order to win girl's heart. However, the two people they chose to tell this tale on bring a flavor to it that's uncanny.

Very quiet, but well structured. Not nearly as impactful as the two people it's about, but real good portrait of a iconic love affair.

http://cinemagardens.com

Ffrlel

It takes a brave director to make a romantic bio-pic featuring a current US President and First Lady. Unless you come from another planet it is impossible to view Southside with You (2016) outside the realm of contemporary politics. Although the summer of 1989 is a long way from the events of 2016, the story of Barack and Michelle's first time out together will be seen by many through their own political lens. Its release in the middle of a Presidential election environment was guaranteed to polarise opinion.

The simple storyline is based on one afternoon in which little happens except non-stop conversation and loads of interpersonal chemistry. Barack (Parker Sawyers) is an intern at a corporate law firm finishing his studies and Michelle (Tika Sumpter) is his adviser who aspires to senior lawyer ranks. They plan to spend the afternoon getting to know one another for professional reasons. As his senior, she is cutely overbearing when she snaps "you are late" while Barack's unflappable charm disarms her every time. These are not idle lovers but world leaders in the making; their conversation ranges from Aristotelian and to simply being two love birds circling each other in a timeless ritual – and the tension is delightful. At one point Barack gently chides Michelle for planning to become a law partner, asking her how she reconciles her social conscience with the profit-driven corporate world: the cut bleeds long into the afternoon. After a gallery visit so Barack can show off his knowledge of art they attend a public meeting where he demonstrates a gift for oratory that even in this modest setting Is as inspirational as it is emotionally manipulative.

This is a thoughtfully constructed, well-acted, and thoroughly charming film. Parker Sawyers carries off the role convincingly with uncanny resemblance to Barack's mannerisms and style of speech. Tika Sumpter plays a restrained and serious Michelle with glimpses of warmth beneath the fascade of a 'professional date'. She is no pushover but a person with an assertive feminist intellect who has found her match. Far from being a soft romantic comedy, this film is a private look into a rarefied world in which intellectual sparring constitutes courtship behaviour.

Hagiography is a style of cinema that places its subject on a pedestal with little interrogation and this is happening here. The film might have benefited from some less adoring insights into a future president and the script is a little strained at times, but these are mere quibbles. This is a warm, intelligent, well told story about two people who became a global power-couple in celebrity politics. SOURCE: www.cinemusefilms.com

Wel

Largely due to its very fine acting, Southside with You works as a very believable slice of life / moment in time film that compels the audience to silently cheer for the two future love birds who would happen to become,in part through their sincere and committed partnership, the most powerful man on earth and a widely admired First Lady. Parker Sawyer does an excellent job, portraying a young confident Barack Obama. He catches the cadence of his voice, subtleties of his mannerisms and blends just the right balance of seriousness and playful "hey I know I am cute" attitude of a man who knows he is charming and capable of doing something important in the future. As a viewer knowing that future, you become almost part of the intellectual seduction process waiting for that moment that an equally serious, but considerably more uptight Michele falls for this guy. It's not a spoiler to tell you-she does.

The movie was at times slightly talky, as the pair share their respective backgrounds in a somewhat expository manner. But giving the film a little slack, knowing it's a semi-bio pic, the dialogue and modest action remained believable with the feel of that relatable first date "getting to know you" sensibility. Though properly not shy about giving an African -American perspective on society, the movie was relatively not that political. Of course, one's political views are likely to affect the movie goers' receptivity to the film, especially during this divisive election year. But at its heart, Southside with You, eschews controversy and remains a well proportioned, not overly done, well acted and directed, appealing boy meets (and you hope he gets) the girl picture.

Malhala

30 August 2016. What makes this movie so special as well as so difficult to execute is the singular nature of the compressed timeframe in which the show encompasses. Unlike the real-time effect of the breakout television series "24" that had the advantage of being an action series, Southside with You has the difficult challenge of being an actual "date" movie about what is supposedly a "date" over a period of a single day depending on who is telling the story. Another surprising element of this movie is the personalization of two major real life people, supposedly which the American public should know a lot about, but apparently they don't. This sometimes slow, cerebral but relational and topical movie allows the audience to discover along with the actors themselves on screen personal information as they disclose fascinating tidbits for the first time. The overall experience is amazing in that audience members get to experience a personal visceral date-like emotional event that is often left out of most romantic drama films.

Southside with You is filled with a sometimes stinging parley of dialogue between the leads, a subtle physical attraction, political commentary, as well as speech-making in difficult times and places. The movie portrays both human uncertainty, dating qualms, innocence, doubt, and divergent conflict and reconciliation. This movie humanizes people often portrayed in black and white as impersonal politicians. In some ways, Southside with You offers a similar presentation about first time relational meetings as A Long Way Down (2014) that focuses on an ensemble cast in a drama dealing with a singular concern about suicide over a short period of time, an action thriller with John Cusack and Malin Akerman in The Numbers Station (2013) told over two day period or even Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez in the under-rated action drama Gigli (2003) that took place in a day or Audrey Hepburn's performance in the suspense thriller Wait Until Dark (1967).

Perhaps an even closer fit to Southside with You might be the childhood classic Stand by Me (1986) or even Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn in the award-winning lighter fare of Roman Holiday (1953) or Bill Murray's more isolated experience in Lost in Translation (2013). What is spectacular about this movie is its ability to reveal the dramatic highlights of one of the most innocent moments in two people's lives that intersect for their first real interactions on both a physical, mental, and spiritual level.

Karg

Writer-director Richard Tanner is largely responsible for creating this biography-drama-romance. A small conversation piece taking place on a single afternoon and evening, depicting a "first date" of an attractive couple who happen to be working in the same office during the day.

The dialogue is constantly engaging and the characters, highly polished and professional, relate their respective backgrounds and life views to one another.

What makes this couple extra special is that it's our now-still-current U. S. President and the First Lady, long before either seriously considered a career in politics.

There's nice Chicago 1989 atmosphere throughout, and the two leads are engaging and fascinating as they strive to learn more about one another. I found myself in rapt attention and enjoyed the eighty-four minutes spent in their company. Both Tika Sumpter is as Michelle and Parker Sawyers as Barak give natural, relaxed characterizations. It's a unique project conceived by Mr. Tanner and well executed.

Trash

Although the 2 films were made by completely different people and studios, comparisons between 'Barry (2016)' and 'Southside With You (2016)' is inevitable.

Both movies are about Barack Obama, the former 'Barry (2016)' was about his younger days in college as a angsty young man (before Michelle came into the picture) in search for an identity, a film which I very much enjoyed. In fact I put it on my 'best of 2016' movies list.

So this movie should be right up my alley right? well I can't say that it was, 'Southside With You' has a far less interesting premise, it's basically a fluffy rom com turned political drama halfway through. And it's all in all not very interesting.

And I have to say I found Michelle Obama as a character in the film rather annoying and self-centered, Barack was acceptable but he failed in comparison to the actor who played him in 'Barry'.

Perhaps if you are really intrigued by Michelle and Barack as a couple it will be interesting for me, but I can't say I am personally so it's a miss for me.

Made-with-Love

Well, my review is little biased for the reason that I live next to the Baskin Robin at 53rd street Hyde Park, Chicago where this story happened decades ago (Baskin Robbins is now replaced by a subway sandwich shop). Watching this movie brought me closer to the life of Mr. and Mrs. Obama, the beautiful couple. This Movie gives you a very good touch of the south side of Chicago. A pleasant feel of romance that just began. A must watch if you like movies with deep real life conversations. I am a fan of Before sunrise series and this movie falls very much in the same league and so I loved it too.

PS: There is a small rock landmark with a picture and autograph of the Obama couple right at 53rd where the kiss happened. The marker says "On our first date, I treated her to the finest ice cream Baskin-Robbins had to offer, our dinner table doubling as the curb. I kissed her, and it tasted like chocolate."

Vijora

It's time to go to the punside with me, because there will be some corny puns in my review of The Obamas "first date" flick "Southside With You"; even though I have a feeling you might find them so corny that they will be in the grounds of pun impeachment. Anyways, "Southside With You" is a splendid, dialogue-orientated film that focuses on Barrack and Michelle's first date on a hot, summer Chicago day in 1989. Writer-Director Richard Tanne nicely handles the movie on the verbal interaction within our main protagonists, and foreshadows the communicative talents of who would be the future President and First Lady. Sure, you can call "Southside With You", "Before Sunrise: The Obama Moon" but there is nothing wrong with that; even though "Before Sunrise" is a much better movie. Parker Sawyers gives a presidential first-rate performance as the young Barack, and Tika Sumpter will make you think "She is Michelle" from the start in her turn as the future Mrs. Obama. So I think the popular vote will side with "Southside With You" if you give it a chance. **** Good

Nalaylewe

The viewer is a fly on the wall and along for the ride on Barack Obama's and Michelle Robinson's first date. A different look into the romantic side of Barack and Michelle's relationship. Michelle certainly took some convincing according to the movie. Great moments and quotes of Barack. I only wonder how factual it is and what the couple former president and former first lady think of it.

Jerdodov

I don't normally like biopics of living subjects as I think you have to let time pass to truly measure a historical figure, but this is not a movie about Barack and Michelle Obama, the president and first lady, it is about a pair of young unknown young professionals making a go of it in Chicago and trying to squeeze in romance while trying to climb the corporate ladder. Like them or hate them, it was hard to not identify with some of the awkwardness that is typical of first dates and find humor in some of the situations that we have all found ourselves in - except this is the future president. It was great seeing them at the beginning. I am not sure they should have had the scene of them standing close to a flaming trash barrel in the winter in Chicago warming their hands over the copies of the constitution and American flags they kept tossing into the flames as some people might get the wrong idea. I also think maybe they should have not had the future president lighting up the blunts as he walked on water and tossed rotten tomatoes at the Israeli consulate. The part of Obama explaining away the actions of the Islamo fascists in Iran was also enlightening however. Great movie!

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