UNDERRATED AF - MALCOLM X First Reaction & Commentary #malcomx #spikelee #blackhistorymonth #movie

Malcolm X is a 1992 American independent[3] epic biographical drama film about the African-American activist Malcolm X. Directed and co-written by Spike Lee, the film stars Denzel Washington in the title role, alongside Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr., and Delroy Lindo. Lee has a supporting role, while Black Panther Party co-founder Bobby Seale, the Rev. Al Sharpton, and future South African president Nelson Mandela make cameo appearances. The screenplay, co-credited to Lee and Arnold Perl, is based largely on Alex Haley's 1965 book The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Haley had collaborated with Malcolm X on the book beginning in 1963 and completed it after Malcolm X's death. The film dramatizes key events in Malcolm X's life: his criminal career, his incarceration, his conversion to Islam, his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his later falling out with the organization, his marriage to Betty X, his pilgrimage to Mecca and reevaluation of his views concerning whites, and his assassination in 1965. Defining childhood incidents, including his father's death, his mother's mental illness, and his experiences with racism are dramatized in flashbacks. Malcolm X was distributed by Warner Bros. and released in the United States on November 18, 1992. The same year, Denzel Washington won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor for his performance. At the 65th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for two Oscars including the Best Actor for Washington and Best Costume Design for Ruth E. Carter. In 2010, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Cast Denzel Washington (pictured in 2000) portrays Malcolm X. Denzel Washington as Malcolm X, a former petty criminal and convict, Nation of Islam (NOI) minister and activist for African Americans. Angela Bassett as Betty Shabazz, a nurse and NOI activist who marries Malcolm. Albert Hall as Baines, the convict who mentors Malcolm and converts him to Islam. Al Freeman Jr. as Elijah Muhammad, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Delroy Lindo as West Indian Archie, a Harlem gangster who runs a local numbers game and takes a young Malcolm under his wing. Spike Lee as Shorty, Malcolm's childhood friend. Theresa Randle as Laura, a young Malcolm's romantic interest. Kate Vernon as Sophia, Malcolm's lover as a younger criminal. Ernest Lee Thomas as Sidney, a member of the Fruit of Islam and Baines son who is assigned to protect Malcolm. Christopher Plummer as Chaplain Gill, prison chaplain. Lonette McKee as Louise Little, Malcolm's mother. Tommy Hollis as Earl Little, Malcolm's father, a reverend and vocal activist who is murdered by the Black Legion. Giancarlo Esposito as Talmadge X Hayer, an NOI member who is part of the five-man group that assassinates Malcolm. Wendell Pierce as Ben Thomas, a member of the assassination team who supervises the plot. Leonard L. Thomas as Leon Davis, a member of the assassination team who assists Hayer in shooting Malcolm with handguns. Leland Gantt as Wilber McKinley, a member of the assassination team who creates a distraction to lure Malcolm's guards away. Roger Guenveur Smith as Rudy, a caterer-turned-criminal who assists Malcolm in his robberies. James McDaniel as Brother Earl Steve White as Brother Johnson Veronica Webb as Sister Lucille Rosary Phyllis Yvonne Stickney as Honey Jean-Claude La Marre as Benjamin 2X, Malcolm's aide. Debi Mazar as Peg, Sophia's friend and partner-in-crime. Karen Allen as Miss Dunne, the social worker who forcibly separates Malcolm from his mother and siblings. All Information Sourced from Wikipedia Peter Boyle as NYPD Captain Green. David Patrick Kelly as Mr. Ostrowski, Malcolm's elementary school teacher. Political activists Bobby Seale and Al Sharpton make cameo appearances as a pair of street preachers. Civil rights attorney William Kunstler appears as the judge who sentences Malcolm and Shorty to prison. Future South African President Nelson Mandela appears as a Soweto school teacher delivering a lecture on X. Spike Lee regular Nicholas Turturro has a minor role as a Boston police officer. Michael Imperioli briefly appears as a news reporter. Film director John Sayles appears as an FBI agent surveilling Malcolm. Washington's then-eight-year-old son John David Washington appears as a Harlem elementary school student; John David would later go on to star as the lead of Lee's 2018 film BlacKkKlansman. Ossie Davis provides voiceover narration over the film's closing sequence, reading the eulogy he had originally performed at the real Malcolm's funeral.