I felt like watching something starring Robin Williams recently. This film was new to me, and it happened to be available without charge. Even though Williams has a limited part as Eisenhower, the movie itself was remarkable: it made me think deeply and brought tears to my eyes. It might not have been ideal viewing for an early Saturday morning, but I’m definitely planning on buying it on DVD. The story traces a man'…

The film opens with a disturbing display of violence perpetrated by a man (Alex Pettyfer) who holds the view that the Black laborers on his family’s cotton plantation are essentially without value. He commits rape and then kills a man for voicing a small protest! Vanessa Redgrave portrays his mother, who develops an affection for the orphaned boy resulting from this tragedy and elevates him from field work to a posit…