A Black Man Accused, A Town Destroyed

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A Black Man Accused, A Town Destroyed By JANET MASLIN .

February 21, 1997, Friday

A Black Man Accused, A Town Destroyed

By JANET MASLIN

"Rosewood" describes a heinous, long-hidden racial incident that occurred in Florida in 1923, an escalating tragedy that led to the destruction of a prosperous black town. A false accusation of assault allowed Rosewood"s envious white neighbors to embark on a witch hunt in which at least eight people (and probably many more) died. It took only a few days for the population of Rosewood to be scattered, and for the town to be wiped off the map. Black survivors of the massacre finally received reparations in 1993.

The film, a large-scale re-enactment of this shameful episode, has been directed by John Singleton, who is known for his concern with social issues, and produced by Jon Peters, who is not. Together, they give a slick Hollywood gloss to an intrinsically wrenching story, filling it with so many stock characters and stereotypes that the audience"s interest is pre-empted at every turn.

Mr. Singleton ("Boyz N the Hood," "Poetic Justice," "Higher Learning") remains a solidly conventional film maker whose commercial style is much less daring than his taste in subject matter. With dutiful professionalism, he keeps this film looking substantial and makes sure that his characters" ideas emerge in an orderly fashion, one at a time. Neither the film"s smug white bigots nor its uniformly noble blacks are well served by such oversimplification.

Yet hidden beneath the weightiness of the long-winded "Rosewood" are hints of a livelier talent. "Rosewood" draws more heavily upon other movies than it does on history, and when it can do this freely Mr. Singleton shows a lighter touch. The hero of "Rosewood" (which was written by Gregory Poirier) is pure cowboy: a loner, home from the war, looking to settle down to a peaceful life if only his new neighbors didn"t desperately need his help. But they do.

This John Wayne type, called Mann, is played by Ving Rhames (always to be a k a Marsellus Wallace of "Pulp Fiction"), who sturdily inhabits his leading role. Indeed, the film"s most powerful blow against racism comes not from its sloganeering but from the absurdity and outrage of hearing this quintessential Big Guy addressed as "Boy."

As it begins on Dec. 31, 1922, "Rosewood" introduces a set of other characters who are, in every sense, black or white. The white population includes a slutty young wife (Catherine Kellner), a whiskered slob named Duke (Bruce McGill) who educates his son in the art of noose making and a greedy store owner (Jon Voight) who is first seen in the midst of sex with the young black woman who is his clerk.

While the whites play out their sordid lives in nearby Sumner, the blacks of Rosewood are uniformly exemplary. Sylvester Carrier (Don Cheadle) is a piano teacher, though his white neighbors will soon be grousing about the fact that he even owns a piano. His mother (Esther Rolle) is a cleaning woman who witnesses much of the whites" bad behavior. Also in the family is a sweet young teacher named Scrappie (Elise Neal), who catches Mann"s eye. The Carrier family immediately warms to Mann and invites him to a big dinner and happy hoedown on New Year"s Eve.

All this tranquillity is destroyed with shocking speed once the trampy white woman is beaten by her lover and decides to accuse a black stranger of the attack. It isn"t long before guns are being readied while churchgoing white hypocrites are singing "Shall We Gather at the River." And the film"s lynch mob goes on an extended rampage with what, even for a lynch mob, is crude force. The film"s violent scenes are both brutal and trite. With typical delicacy, Mr. Singleton shows white thugs shaking hands and proudly posing for pictures in front of a burning Rosewood home.

The film transcends racial divisions by bestowing equally hopeless dialogue on both sides. (Ms. Rolle: "Nigger! That"s just another word for guilty.") But "Rosewood" does have three leading actors who are so magnetic that they resist oversimplification. Mr. Rhames, tough and formidable, makes himself someone to reckon with. The wiry Mr. Cheadle is especially good as the film"s most defiant, bristling figure. And Mr. Voight successfully finds nuances where not many exist. He and Michael Rooker, who plays the worried local sheriff, are at least allowed some traces of a vestigial conscience.

"Rosewood" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian). It includes strongly disturbing racist violence and sexual situations.

ROSEWOOD

Directed by John Singleton; written by Gregory Poirier; director of photography, Johnny E. Jensen; edited by Bruce Cannon; music by John Williams; production designer, Paul Sylbert; produced by Jon Peters; released by Warner Brothers. Running time: 122 minutes. This film is rated R.

WITH: Jon Voight (John Wright), Ving Rhames (Mann), Don Cheadle (Sylvester Carrier), Bruce McGill (Duke), Loren Dean (James Taylor), Esther Rolle (Sarah Carrier), Michael Rooker (Sheriff Walker), Catherine Kellner (Fannie Taylor) and Elise Neal (Scrappie).

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