Review: “Southside with You” is timely tribute to presidential end

The first date is never easy and the thoughts are endless.  What should I wear?  Where should we go?  What do we talk about?  But, who knew a casual work date on the Southside of Chicago in 1989 would lead to such success?

Singer John Legend serves as executive producer in “Southside with You”, a movie about President Barack and Michelle Obama’s first date.  The couple, who met at a law firm, were on two different pages.  Young junior associate Michelle Robinson wanted to keep their interaction strictly on a professional level.  But, second year Harvard law student Barack Obama wanted more.  In 84 minutes, “Southside with You”, follows every stop and conversation made on their first date in detail.

One day movies are always interesting because the story, the plot, and climax all have to be fully executed based off a 24-hour timeline. While this movie pulled this off, I wanted the rest of the Obama’s story– their engagement, wedding, giving birth to Malia and Sasha, and his first election. The ending was hard despite knowing the outcome of the story.  I just wanted more.

Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter are a fictional match made in heaven. Neither actor actually resembled their characters but the pair performed the First Couple very well.  Sawyers had President Obama’s motion and vernacular memorized.  From the cigarette smoking to the dramatic pauses in his speech, it was a delight to see Sawyers as the POTUS.

Read more at the New Pittsburgh Courier: Review: “Southside with You” is timely tribute to presidential end