Good start, but then it gets ruined

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

John Lithgow accompanies a Black Lieutenant soldier's body sent home for final resting in rural Georgia. Despite it being 1972, racial prejudice ensues as the soldier is refused burial in the town's all White cemetery. Although prominently featured on the DVD cover, the soldier's Father, Morgan Freeman, has little to do in the film. Things slow down considerably as Lithgow tries to get the truth about how the Lieutenant died, from many fruitless interviews with his Vietnam Unit. Eventually the truth begins to emerge. M. Emmet Walsh's part as a retired Sargent giving advice to Lithgow, seems like little more than time filler. Not a bad film , it just feels like it was stretched to fill a TV slot. - MERK

I was so pleased that I had taped this movie from the television based upon the briefest review in the newspaper as I have the chance to watch this forgotten gem whenever I wish to. Made in 1986 the film is about a US Army Major in 1972 accompanying the body of a young officer to his home town of Rockville for local burial. So what you may think, but the twist is that Major Laird is played by John Lithgow and his charge is the son of Luther and Ada Johnson (Morgan Freeman and CCH Pounder). In Rockville the cemetery is reserved for the white folks and even black military heroes have to rest out of town, according to the local Sheriff. The plot deals with that period in time when there still was prejudice even though there were laws for equal rights. This may seem quite dated now that Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th President of the United States of America, but the story is told with feeling and some very strong acting ability. Without exception, all of the leading characters are portrayed by actors who all went on to prove their true worth. It may be that the subject matter of the movie was not flavour of the month in 1986 but nevertheless it is workmanlike and sincere in its story of good old white society trying to maintain its superiority over emerging black aspirations. Whilst it is not in the same league as 'In the Heat of the Night' or 'Amistad' this well made tale of a fight against prejudice is still worth watching more than once.

RESTING PLACE is a fractured mix of two dramas. It begins as a very conventional American race drama, in which Georgia locals refuse to have a black Vietnam Lieutenant buried in their all-white cemetery. It then morphs into a military-set mystery as the circumstances of the Lieutenant's death are revealed to be suspicious.This double narrative robs either story of the time needed to develop itself and makes the conclusion feel rushed and unsatisfying. Major characters, like the Lieutenant's parents (Morgan Freeman and C.C.H. Pounder), are abandoned for much of the film's running time. The split between the Georgia town and the local Army base ensures that neither comes alive.The film begins with a degree of racial subtlety as the local authorities explain their reasons for opposing the burial. Having avoided the racial violence in the South of the late 1960's they don't want to move too far, too fast in this post-Civil Rights Era, for fear of causing it. For once these are concerned citizens, not hate-filled rednecks. The second narrative has promise too. The Lieutenant's death turns out to be the result of a mistake he made that killed some of his men and lost him the trust of his platoon. Consequently in their next firefight he leads but nobody follows, assuring his death. Unfortunately subtlety is thrown out the window as an unconvincing racial subtext is introduced and the Lieutenant's mistake is revealed to have really been made by his radioman (motivated by racism).Handsome production values and some unusually restrained acting from John Lithgow fail to redeem the inability of the screenplay to combine its two stories.

As usual, Hallmark Hall of Fame has done an outstanding job of presenting the factual events of the times. Our world is not always a pleasant place, but as these events show, truth and right generally prevail. I like the fact that this experience was an education for all involved, especially John Lithgow's character.