Animenter There are women in the film, but none has anything you could call a personality.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

pointyfilippa The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Shari I really liked this movie. I like when skeletons are brought out of the closet. I do think the movie tried to squeeze too much into a small amount of time, but it did it's best. I would've liked to see more on Sally's relationship with her children instead of these sides references to them when they grew up. I mean, that's what all the hoopla was about wasn't it? The fact that the kids are Jeffersons? I'm sure these kids had some issues with dark-skinned slaves and wanted to know why they were slaves when they were pretty much as white as the owners. I think issues like that could've and should've been addressed more.Carmen Ejogo blew me away as Sally. She's simply stunning on screen. I appreciated the fact that she studied the accents of the South during that time. It wasn't full-fledged southern twang, but a mix of various tones, since the country was still in its early inception stages. I appreciated Mare's portrayal of Jefferson's daughter who's obsessed with protecting his legacy, even when he doesn't seem too preoccupied with it. It sounds very much like his white descendants today. They aren't able to fully grasp that this man was human. The reigning social habit of the day was to take black concubines who were their slaves. It's horrible to us, but it was natural to them.It's a little unsettling that the relationship is played so much as this Harlequinn romance novel when many similar situations were hardly that. Rape was common in these types of relationships, whether by brute force or seduction. I'm loathe to think that Sally, being only 15 or so at the time she started her relationship with Jefferon, was simply going to lie down like that and understand a loving, committed relationship. On the other hand, she was aware of her family's history of women becoming their master's concubines. Maybe she understood life at that age a lot better than most of us in our age of modernity can understand now. Their relationship touches on many levels, and the movie left you wondering. It was a nice touch, because we don't know what happened at all.I'm big on black people getting what's theirs, and I think this story is a great example of people having a right to something. You may not like the relationship, but it happened and they're here, so give them what's theirs. America's habit of utterly dismissing the claims of blacks because we have oral histories instead of written ones, just irks me to no end. (Like someone can't write a lie) The slaves knew what was going on, so they aren't in the habit of lying about it. That kind of thing was usually done by the masters and their families to cover up their fascination with power. The movie was a little light considering the severity of the place and time, but it was still a good film. The scene where Sally's baby dies and her niece, Martha, simply dismisses her with a curt "I'm sorry" was wonderfully done. The woman had given birth to the president's child and lost it. If it was Jefferson's late wife, it would've been something completely different. And the child would've been buried in the family cemetery to boot. That's the legacy of slavery. I'm sure there were historical inaccuracies, but one comes to expect this with Hollywood portrayals.

avatar6 This movie was not immediately something I found great. In fact, as I watched the beginning, I began to find myself laughing at the absurdity of some of the scenes... a reaction not sought after, I am sure. It wasn't awful, and it did have some good parts, but it was something out of a Harlequin romance novel, it seemed. But, as time rolled on, the movie began to unveil its value as a serious, thought-provoking, and often moving portrayal of a time when the human condition outshined the laws of the day. In the end, what made this movie work -- and it worked quite well once it got past the poorly written first scenes -- were the performances of Sam Neill, and Carmen Ejogo. It was not a surprise that Sam Neill made bad lines sound so good -- he's an extremely talented actor -- but it was a surprise to see Carmen Ejogo, a virtual unknown, act so beautifully and eloquently. She is going to be an actress to watch. Not only is she gorgeous to look at, she's talented, as well. Both actors were brilliant in their roles, and that alone makes the movie worth watching. They should be proud of the work they did.

bkuchau Hello. I was very pleased with the series. I was interested in watching it because of SAM NEILL but soon found that the acting of SAM and Carmen was so well done that I actually found myself watching TJ and Sally finding each other, loving each other and was drawn in to their unique situation. I believe that the series did a good thing in bringing this relationship into the public eye and I personally have found I have a great interest in learning more about TJ, Sally (who, unfortunately, there is not a lot available) and the whole horrible slave business.There were places in the series where I was disappointed, simple things that were not realistic, but I was willing to overlook them because of the superb acting of SAM NEILL and Carmen.I recommend this series.

wallie What a performance for Sam Neill. I thought that his portrayal of Jefferson was delightful. They could not have picked a better actor. I truly loved this mini-series. I think it is one of the best that I have seen in a while.