8.6 /10 1 Votes8.6
91% Rotten Tomatoes Budget 1.5 million USD | 6.5/10 IMDb 4/4 Roger Ebert Written by Richard Tanne Cinematography Pat Scola Box office 6.5 million USD | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Tika SumpterRichard TanneRobert Teitel Starring Parker SawyersTika SumpterVanessa Bell Calloway Cast Similar Barack Obama movies, Romance movies Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Southside with You is a 2016 American biographical romantic drama film written and directed by Richard Tanne, in his feature film directorial debut. The film stars Parker Sawyers and Tika Sumpter as a young Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson, respectively, and focuses on the couple's first date on an evening in 1989.
Contents
Principal photography began in July 2015 in Chicago. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and was theatrically released on August 26, 2016, by Miramax and Roadside Attractions. The film received widespread critical acclaim.
Plot
Law student Barack Obama, while working as a summer associate at a Chicago law firm in 1989, tries to win the heart of Michelle Robinson, a young lawyer and his supervisor at the firm, filling time before a community meeting. They visit an Afrocentric exhibit at a local art center, attend a community organizing meeting where Obama gives a speech, view a screening of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, and have their first kiss outside an ice cream parlor in what winds up being their first date.
Cast
Production
The original idea was developed by Richard Tanne in 2007, after which he started writing the script. On December 5, 2014, Deadline reported that there would be a romance film titled Southside With You, based on the first date of American President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama, set in Chicago, where the couple met in 1989 and married in 1992. Tika Sumpter would play Michelle, while no one had yet been cast in Barack's role. Tanne would make his directing debut on the film, based on his own script, and producing alongside Tika Sumpter.
On April 10, 2015, IM Global came on board to produce the film with producer Robert Teitel. In April 2015, Sumpter talked with Vulture about her preparations to play Michelle, and stated that she was "nervous" because she was about to play "Michelle Obama, who is everything every woman wants to be," and also said that she was reading some poetry and books to get know more about Michelle, so she could portray the role better. On May 7, 2015, Parker Sawyers was cast as the young Barack Obama. Producers on the film were Tanne and Sumpter, along with Teitel, through IM Global.
Filming
Principal photography on the film began on July 13, 2015 on location in Chicago, Illinois; following that, several websites released photos from the set. Filming wrapped on July 31, 2015. Locations included downtown, the South Side, and the West Side. Filming was also done on Amstutz Expressway in Waukegan.
Release
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2016. Shortly after, Miramax and Roadside Attractions acquired theatrical distribution rights to the film. On April 28, 2016, Miramax released the first official trailer for the film.
Box office
Southside with You was released on August 26, 2016, and was initially projected to gross around $2 million from 813 theaters in its opening weekend. It ended up grossing $2.9 million, a per-theater average of $3,762. The film went on to gross a total of $6.5 million against its $1.5 million budget.
Critical response
Southside with You received positive reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a certified fresh approval rating of 91%, based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The site's consensus states, "Southside with You looks back on a real-life date with strong performances and engaging dialogue, adding up to a romance that makes for a pretty good date movie in its own right." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 42 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Home media
Southside with You became available on Digital HD on November 29, 2016 and Blu-Ray & DVD on December 13, 2016 from Lionsgate and Miramax.