Prom Night in Mississippi (2008)

2.5 STARS

Directed by Paul Saltzman
Produced by Paul Saltzman, Patricia Aquino
Written by Paul Saltzman

Starring Morgan Freeman, participating interviewees

Runtime 1 hour, 30 min.
Worldwide Gross N/A
Genres Documentary

Prom Night in Mississippi is in many ways exactly what its title suggests. But what differentiates the prom at Charleston High School from other schools' is that up until 2008, the Mississippi school ran two - one for white students and another for black. In 1997, Academy Award-winning actor and Charleston resident Morgan Freeman suggested the ASB create an integrated prom, with all the funds coming from his own pocket. His idea went by ignored until 2008, when Freeman made the proposition again. This time, the school accepted Freeman's offer.

Directed by Paul Saltzman, Prom Night is a documentary that follows Charleston teens as their school prepares for the event. You'd think that in a documentary with such a powerful topic, you'd see both sides of the argument equally. This sadly isn't the case for this film. Though the opposing view point is explored and is slightly supported by some of the interviewees, I never saw that strong, opinionated racist asshole that I waited 90 minutes for. I wanted this. Show us the enemy, let us dissect their opinions and find the faults in them. Though the racism of some of the town's residents is spoken of and is consistently referred to, Saltzman fails to ever get one of them on camera.


I can see how hard it could be to get someone with such a disowned opinion to appear on camera, but it appears to me that Saltzman either didn't want one to appear or simply didn't try hard enough. In a small Mississippi town, a person with outspoken, racist beliefs was nowhere to be found? I find this hard to believe. Prom Night was filmed, edited and released in less than a year - an obvious sign that more work could have been done.

As it is, Prom Night is a sloppy, stereotypical teen documentary. It's clear that Saltzman needs a more developed sense of drama. With an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime topic such as this, Prom Night could have been amazing and incredibly revealing. It might have even jerked some tears. But this isn't that sort of film. For instance, various popular music songs are used in transitions as filler content. This not only dates the film, but adds an overwhelming sense of cheesiness. And do we really need this in a documentary film? If you want to listen to bad pop-rap in a movie, go watch Norbit. I just don't want it in films like this one. Even good rap music would seem out of place here. I just don't see documentaries as a forum to advertise the newest hit by Kanye West.

But the film isn't a complete train wreck as I've suggested. There are some good interviews to be seen here and some of the interviewees are really interesting to listen to. Saltzman also succeeds in that he's able to keep your interest. Though its content could have been more exciting, this is a documentary and there's nothing so boring that makes me want to stop watching. But where there's success, there's more flaws.

It's final scene is disappointing. We've been waiting all film long for the prom and it's boring, uninteresting shots of dancers? Yes, the film is about a prom. Dancing is expected. But the shots should at least feel meaningful. In this case, they don't. An element that contributes to this is the uneven editing and cinematography. There's some shots that could be shown more effectively through editing and alternative camera positioning. Most of the prom scene's shots are boring wide shot angles, while the event's frenetic activity suggests that the camera should be placed differently. It's like the equipment and crew are battling against each other.

I had very high hopes about Prom Night in Mississippi. When I read the film's plot, I actually said "Wow." This could have been an amazing film. However, it let me down greatly. On the other hand, this film will most definitely open some eyes - the best possible reward for a documentary filmmaker. If done differently, it could have been a sure contender for the Academy Award for Best Documentary. But as it is? Sadly, no.

Prom Night in Mississippi is currently unrated.