Topline Will Smith’s new film Emancipation—based on the true story of “Whipped Peter,” an enslaved man who joins the Union army during the Civil War—was met with mixed reviews Friday ahead of its theatrical release, with some critics hailing the film as “essential” and others as “shallow,” as Smith was expected to use the film as vehicle for his comeback following “the slap” at the Oscars earlier this year. This image released by Apple TV+ shows Will Smith in a scene from “Emancipation.” Associated Press Key Facts The New York Times wrote Emancipation “functions as a necessary corrective to the familiar, big-screen fictions about the American slave trade,” though it’s also “very much a propulsive, Hollywood-style action-fueled adventure.” The film “treats the details of Peter’s journey with respect and great admiration,” but “feels flimsy when it strays from the swamps, rendering the politics of the time as almost secondary to the visu… Click below to read the full story from Forbes
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