I am appalled by the disgraceful politicization of Obama's time at Columbia expressed in the negative reviews here when Snopes offers a quick debunking of such ignorant slander. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/columbia.asp
On to the film. I enjoyed it quite a bit as it was a successful exploration of our 44th president's deep search for identify in an alienating and often violent NYC of the early eighties. The parallel relationships with his white girlfriend and fellow classmate from the Grant Houses in Harlem symbolically left him somewhere in the middle of a conflicted cultural and racial identity. The grit and vibrant culture showed through and seemed accurate to the period of great cultural and especially musical innovation, all against a back drop of graffiti and the litter-strewn vacant lots of Upper Manhattan.
The only character I would have appreciated more development from was his Pakistani roommate who seemed too much a drunk and drug-addled caricature.
Overall a very enjoyable film.
On to the film. I enjoyed it quite a bit as it was a successful exploration of our 44th president's deep search for identify in an alienating and often violent NYC of the early eighties. The parallel relationships with his white girlfriend and fellow classmate from the Grant Houses in Harlem symbolically left him somewhere in the middle of a conflicted cultural and racial identity. The grit and vibrant culture showed through and seemed accurate to the period of great cultural and especially musical innovation, all against a back drop of graffiti and the litter-strewn vacant lots of Upper Manhattan.
The only character I would have appreciated more development from was his Pakistani roommate who seemed too much a drunk and drug-addled caricature.
Overall a very enjoyable film.