Native Son

A deeply disappointing but nonetheless fascinating film adaptation of black author Richard Wright's 1940 literary masterpiece. Shot on locations as diverse and surprising as Argentina and the South Side of Chicago (where the novel's action takes place), Wright himself plays his main character, Bigger Thomas, a young black whose frustrations with racism explode into violence. Hired as a chauffeur by a rich white family eager to help him out of the slums, Wright soon finds that his main duty is to drive the family's wild daughter Wallace wherever she feels like going. Wallace uses the fact that Wright is intimidated by her to ensure his silence when she goes off to v...