REVIEW: ‘Blood Done Sign My Name’

“Blood Done Sign My Name” is not a typical Hollywood movie. It does not play by the rules of “rah-rah” storytelling, where the ending is clear-cut and the audience goes home with a happy feeling because everything worked out just fine in the end. The film moves at its own pace, and gets to the conclusion when it’s good and ready. It does, however, stay true to the narrative and the events in Oxford, North Carolina in 1970. The approach makes for a powerful movie, in the simple act of letting the story play out on its own terms, which is more than compelling enough.

At its core, “Blood Done Sign My Name” is the story of the murder of a black Oxford man galvanized the black community to effect change in their hometown. However, it sets up the movie by introducing Vernon Tyson (Rick Schroder), a new minister assigned to the Methodist church in Oxford; and Ben Chavis (Nate Parker), a college graduate who comes home to Oxford to teach at an all-black high school. While we never see them meet, or watch their lives intersect, Chavis and Tyson both know the racial tension in Oxford is at a simmering point, and a flashpoint would not be far off.

Tyson tries to preach a message of tolerance, inflaming parishioners by inviting a prominent black minister to deliver a guest sermon at his church. When the church’s advisory board tries to get Tyson to call it off, he likens their situation to living underneath a dam. “You don’t want to be there when that dam breaks.”

The break occurs when Dickie Marrow, a black Vietnam vet, angers Robert Teel (Nick Searcy) and his two sons over a simple verbal misunderstanding. While two bystanders watch, the Teels chase down Marrow, shoot him in the back, club and stomp him as he begs for his life, then shoot him once in the head. The Oxford police refuse to take up the investigation that night, and after the Teels are finally arrested, an all-white jury is seated to hear the case.

“Blood Done Sign My Name” is based on an award-winning book by Tyson’s son, Tim, who is only in grade school when he watches the events in Oxford unfold. The elder Tyson brings his two sons out to a local lake to show them what they’re up against: they surreptitiously watch a group in a meadow, which looks like a nice multi-family picnic until the large cross is raised in the middle of the field and set ablaze. It’s a palpable, powerful scene.

Writer / director Jeb Stuart knows that the realities of the post-desegregation South will give enough chills, and he rightly avoids the trappings of a traditional Hollywood civil rights movie. With solid performances across the board, and a script that pulls you in by degrees by its simple gravity, “Blood Done Sign My Name” is a brilliant work, and deserves your attention.