The Best of Enemies (2019 film)

The Best of Enemies is a 2019 American drama film directed and written by Robin Bissell. It is based on the book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South by Osha Gray Davidson, which focuses on the rivalry between civil rights activist Ann Atwater and Ku Klux Klan leader C. P. Ellis. The film stars Taraji P. Henson, Sam Rockwell, Babou Ceesay, Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, Bruce McGill, John Gallagher Jr., and Nick Searcy. It was released in the United States on April 5, 2019, by STX Entertainment.

Plot
Ann Atwater (Taraji P. Henson), a civil rights activist in Durham, North Carolina, battles with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) leader C. P. Ellis (Sam Rockwell) for a decade until 1971, when the two agree to co-chair a two-week community meeting to deal with a court-ordered school desegregation decree, which changes both of their lives.

Cast

 * Taraji P. Henson as Ann Atwater, a civil rights activist in Durham
 * Sam Rockwell as C. P. Ellis
 * Wes Bentley as Floyd Kelly
 * Babou Ceesay as Bill Riddick
 * Anne Heche as Mary Ellis
 * Bruce McGill as Carvie Oldham
 * John Gallagher Jr. as Lee Trombley
 * Nick Searcy as Garland Keith
 * Sope Aluko as Henrietta Kaye
 * Carson Holmes as Kenneth Ellis

Production
In June 2015, it was announced that Taraji P. Henson and Sam Rockwell would star in the true story based civil rights drama, an adaptation of Osha Gray Davidson's book The Best of Enemies: Race and Redemption in the New South, Robin Bissell was attached to make his directorial debut from his own script. Filming began on May 22, 2017, in Georgia. In July 2018, STX Entertainment acquired the film's domestic distribution rights. Producers on the film were Danny Strong, Fred Bernstein, Matt Berenson, Bissell, Dominique Telson, and Material Pictures' Tobey Maguire and Matthew Plouffe. The trailer was released on October 11, 2018.

Release
The Best of Enemies was released in the United States on April 5, 2019, by STX Entertainment.

Box office
In the United States and Canada, The Best of Enemies was released alongside Shazam! and Pet Sematary, and was projected to gross $6-12 million from 1,705 theaters in its opening weekend. It made $1.6 million on its first day, including $265,000 from Thursday night previews. It ended up debuting to just $4.4 million, finishing sixth at the box office and marking one of the worst debuts for a STX film. The film fell 55% in its second weekend to $2 million, finishing tenth.

Critical response
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 53% based on 70 reviews, with an average rating of 6.03/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Best of Enemies has the best of intentions, but they're derailed by a problematic perspective and a disappointing lack of insight." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 49 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 82% and a "definite recommend" of 70%.