It would probably be a bit too cliché for me to recommend a cheerful holiday movie. You know all of the classics, namely It’s a Wonderful Life (1946). But if you have not seen it, then make sure you do by Christmas.
If, on the other hand, you are looking for an excellent and gripping drama, you simply must watch Mississippi Burning (1988). This is terrific acting and storytelling, as gritty and thrilling as it gets.
From YouTube:
Mississippi Burning Trailer – Directed by Alan Parker and starring Gene Hackman, Willem Dafoe, Brad Dourif, R. Lee Ermey, Gailard Sartain. Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his former Sheriff partner.
Amazing movie…Hackman at his usual zenith.
What few people don’t know is that the FBI engaged an underworld hit man that was sent down to Mississippi. The FBI informed the hit man of just who they thought was behind the murders. The mobster kidnapped the Klan Member, beat him within an inch of his life, wherein the klan member gave up the location of the buried civil rights workers. True story.
It is a great scene in the movie. Great stuff, flicker. Thanks.