Ne-Yo movie proves a good watch

Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Red Tails, the Tuskegee Airmen-inspired film produced by George Lucas and directed by Anthony Hemingway, had its Montego Bay premiere last week Friday with featured singer, songwriter and record producer Ne-Yo and the Compound Island team in attendance.

The red carpet at the Palace Multiplex, Montego Bay, played host to Ne-Yo, singer-songwriter-actress Keri Hilson, Adrienne Bailon - of Cheetah Girls fame - Jeffrey 'Agent Sasco' Campbell and wife Nicole, record producer Jimmy Stanley and family, as well as other local luminaries, including Carlene Samuels, TV producer of Creative Source, and Shelly-Ann Curran, senior sponsorship manager at Digicel.

Red Tails tells the inspiring story of the Tuskegee Airmen, African-American aviators who fought with distinction for the United States Army Air Corps in World War II, despite racial discrimination which often reduced their roles to that of bomber escorts.

Terrence Howard, who played a Tuskegee pilot in Hart's War, was a standout as the brash and unrepentant Colonel A.J. Bullard, who was unrelenting in his fight to secure the best for the men at Tuskegee. Cuba Gooding Jr (Cuba Gooding Jr played the same rule in an HBO made-for-TV film called Tuskegee Airmen), and David 'Lightning' Oyelowo were also impressive in their roles.

Ne-Yo joins the trio as the wise-cracking, tobacco-chewing 'Smoky Salem'. He, too, left a good impression on those who came out to see the premiere.

The movie was a good encapsulation of that enigmatic period of American history, where marginalised people sought to prove that all men are equal no matter colour or creed.