Get Lifted Film Co.
IM Global
Not part of a collection.
Southside with You
Chronicles a single day in the summer of 1989 when the future president of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady on an epic first date across Chicago's South Side.
- Original title
- Southside with You
- Language
- EN
- Country
- US
- Budget
- $1,500,000
- Revenue
- $6,628,603
Louisa Moore - Screen Zealots
Aug 4, 2023 · via TMDB
Inspired by Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date in 1989, “Southside With You” is a fun period premise that just isn’t fully realized. It’s not romantic enough to be a traditional date movie and it tries too hard to be a racially focused drama, making this talky film from writer-director Richard Tanne much more of a bore than a joy to sit through. The movie focuses on one date and takes place over one day in and around Chicago. Summer law firm associate Barack (Parker Sawyers) picks up his colleague Michelle (Tika Sumpter) to spend the day chatting and exploring their city. In a blatant rip-off of the far better “Before Sunrise” series, this film starts off delightful and then becomes just too cutesy and preachy to be meaningful. The film makes Obama out to be some sort of savior for the poor and the disenfranchised which I guess is okay, but it’s also more than a little irritating. (The religious imagery becomes so forced that there’s a scene in a church where Obama is bathed in sunlight). The early banter in the ‘first date’ scenes are fun, romantic and enjoyably charming, much due to the charismatic performances from Sawyers and Sumpter. It’s when the discussions turn more and more towards race and poverty that the film begins to feel like it’s an exercise in pandering to the liberal crowd. Ultimately it becomes a bland attempt at pointed social, gender and racial commentary. This movie is short (84 minutes) but it should’ve been even shorter. There’s just not enough compelling material to make an interesting feature film.
Reno
Dec 24, 2016 · via TMDB
**First date with a chocolate ice cream girl.** A small film with a small success. It was entirely shot in the two weeks of time. Directed by a first timer, it tells the true story of Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson's first date back in the 1989 during working for a big law firm in Chicago. Like how Michelle denied it is a date as co-workers should not engage in a close relationship. While Obama is trying to win her heart, the film reveals their day, what they talk and do and how it all ends. This is not a biographical film I was expecting. I mean I was looking forward to the film, but not this kind of simple story. This looks like another version of 'Before Sunrise', and I won't be surprised if they make a sequel in a similar fashion, maybe a trilogy. So this is a one day event when they were young and passionate about their work, somewhat they both liked each other, though they knew their limits. The writer-come-director confirms all the events from his film really occurred, but not all of them in just one date. The actors were good, especially I liked Parker Sawyers as Barack Obama. For me, this is not a great film, but decently made one. Obama fans might like it, though you could try it if you like date film in a realistic manner. It's Obama's early life, so there's nothing about his present politics or the president post, except talking about their future plans. But most of the film about between them and their life, like how they grew how, what they love and loved, those kind of stuffs. So I hope you watch it with a low expectation. _6.5/10_
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
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Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Spectrum On Demand
Parker Sawyers
Barack Obama
Tika Sumpter
Michelle Robinson
Vanessa Bell Calloway
Marian Robinson
Phillip Edward Van Lear
Fraser C. Robinson
Deanna Reed-Foster
Bernadette
Jerod Haynes
Tommy
Taylar Fondren
Janice
Donn C. Harper
Curtis
Donald Paul
Bow Tie
Jeremy Michael Pereira
Bar Patron
Rukey Styles
Hair Department Head
John Legend
Executive Music Producer
Richard Tanne
Director
Michael Thomas James
Dailies Technician
Evan Schiff
Editor
Twinkie Byrd
Casting
John Legend
Executive Producer
Matt Jackson
Executive Producer
Mike Jackson
Executive Producer
Richard Tanne
Executive Producer
Rosanne Korenberg
Executive Producer
Stuart Ford
Executive Producer
Tika Sumpter
Executive Producer
Zanne Devine
Executive Producer
Richard Tanne
Producer
Robert Teitel
Producer
Tika Sumpter
Producer
Stephen James Taylor
Original Music Composer
John Legend
Songs
Richard Tanne
Screenplay
The Labour and Rose
UnAuthorized
Only One Woman
La canción de La Malibrán
Schindler's List
The Pianist
Some Like It Hot
A Taxi Driver
1987: When the Day Comes
Legend in Granite
Andrei Rublev
In the Name of the Father
Donnie Darko
The Straight Story
Raphael: The Lord of the Arts
Primal Fear
Boogie Nights
The Ron Clark Story
Billy Elliot
Sleepers
The Last Emperor
Cinderella Man
Gandhi
Fearless
Walk the Line
Birdman of Alcatraz
Carol
Erin Brockovich
Scarface
Shine
Bad Education
Daskale ti didaskes?
Minari
Sissi
The Damned United
Citizen X
John Q
High Fidelity
Sissi: The Young Empress
Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress
Test Pattern
Mary Kom
The Post
Cry Freedom
Wingless
Capote
The Duchess
Peach Girl
Desert Dancer
What's for Dinner, Mom?
The Life and Loves of Beethoven
Ali
55 Steps
Van Gogh
Haywire
Ennio Doris - C'è anche domani
Pollock
Back to Black
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
The History Boys
The Man Who Loved UFOs
Basquiat
Charlie Wilson's War
Cantinflas
Black Mass
Amour Fou
My Bodyguard
Armageddon Time
The Silent Twins
White Boy Rick
Through the Mist
Molokai: The Story of Father Damien
Nightwatching
The Weather Man
Barbershop 2: Back in Business
Wonderland
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
Factory Girl
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
The Legend of Juan Jose Mundo
The Countess
Year of the Jellyfish
Mae West
The Assassination of Trotsky
Menendez: Blood Brothers
The Creep Behind the Camera
Anna Pavlova
Rodin
The Woman of My Life
My Best Friend, General Vasili, the Son of Joseph Stalin
One Night Only
Otevřený kruh
The Guerilla is a Poet
Amelia Earhart
James Joyce's 'Ulysses'
Goodbye Darling, I'm Off to Fight
Walk With Me
Johann Strauß an der schönen blauen Donau
Cobalt Blue
Letters To Daniel
Jiří Trnka: A Long Lost Friend
The Life of Rayful Edmond
Muppet Man
Crown of the snake
Kristína
Olmo
Untitled Chico Mendes Biopic
Taxman
7 Miles Out
Noc pastýřů
Lucille
Untitled
Purple Hearts
The Bridges of Madison County
Days of Heaven
The Best of Me
One Day
Love Everlasting
Breathe
Imitation of Life
Song Sung Blue
A Place in the Sun
Love at First Sight
The Choice
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Lake House
The Ultimate Life
Endless Love
The Fugitive Kind
Sweet November
The Lost Husband
Priscilla
The Gift
Two for the Seesaw
Julia
Departure
Up Close & Personal
Beyond the Sea
Materialists
The Yellow Handkerchief
A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
Last Night
Blind
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between
Dot the I
I'm in Love with a Church Girl
The Object of My Affection
Jan 24, 2016
Sundance Film Festival
Aug 26, 2016
