Get on the Bus (1996)

Director:

Spike Lee

Writer (WGA):

Reggie Rock Bythewood (written by)

Release Date:

16 October 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History

Tagline:

On October 16, 1996, the one year anniversary of the Million Man March, Spike Lee invites you to lift your head, raise your voice, and...get on the bus.

Plot:

Get on the Bus follows several Black men on a cross country bus trip to the Million Man March. On the...

Plot Keywords:

Bus | Politics | Million Man March | Prejudice | Journey

Awards:

2 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Richard Belzer	...	Rick
De'aundre Bonds	...	Junior, aka 'Smooth'
Andre Braugher	...	Flip
Thomas Jefferson Byrd	...	Evan Thomas Sr.
Gabriel Casseus	...	Jamal
Albert Hall	...	Craig
Hill Harper	...	Xavier
Harry Lennix	...	Randall
Bernie Mac	...	Jay
Wendell Pierce	...	Wendell
Roger Guenveur Smith	...	Gary
Isaiah Washington	...	Kyle
Steve White	...	Mike
Ossie Davis	...	Jeremiah
Charles S. Dutton	...	George

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby SR

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #34796) | Singapore:PG | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | UK:15

Company:

15 Black Men

Trivia:

Although the single most alluded to person in the film, Louis Farrakhan is only seen briefly as the men watch the footage of the March at the hospital. He is being escorted to the podium and viewed from the back.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: While driving from South Los Angeles to Washington DC, the bus takes the Pasadena Freeway north from downtown LA. This freeway ends in Pasadena and is not the way one would travel across the country. Furthermore, a bus of this size would not be permitted on this freeway.

Quotes:

Jeremiah: I think as we prepare to go on this journey; it might be appropriate to have a prayer.
[praying]
Jeremiah: Dear Lord, we ask you to...
Flip: [running onto the bus] Damn, I'm glad ya'll ain't left. I didn't think I was ever goin' to...
George: [angrily] Hey; CP Time, we tryin' to have a prayer here!

Movie Connections:

References The Defiant Ones (1958)

Soundtrack:

Redemption Song

Learn the Minorities Mindset and Cry with empathy

Hearing about the film when it first came out, I failed to find a Big Screen showing. Recently, I bought the pre-recorded video and it proved to be well worth the wait.

The message is universal. Spike Lee loses none of his sharpness of observation on the minutiae of human relationships shown in Girl 6. The tender relationship between "Smooth" and his father despite the shackles, leading to the reconciliation after the tense search for "Smoth" is a classic.

Above all Ossie Davis as Jeremiah is a force showing some of the most "real" acting I have ever seen. You are drawn into the warmth of his personality by the brilliant scripting of Reggie Bythewood. If you're in any way human, you cannot fail to become attached to Jeremiah as a truly special person. When he is taken to the hospital you want to be with the travellers as they fret in the relatives room.

If you didn't find the final epitath spech by Ossie davis read by George brilliantly played by Charles Dutton, just let the beauty of the script wash over you. I wept buckets at this point, the setting, the way you warm to Jeremiah, and the pathos should bring you to regard this as one of the cinema's great scenes.

11/10!