This remains a key topic going into the 2020
election and clearly seemed like the most
important thing to focus on in depicting the
John Lewis of now, before the pandemic and
the protests.
Still, it is somewhat telling that one of the most
memorable parts of the documentary comes
not from Lewis but from Cummings, who said he
was often mistaken for his peer.
“I have gotten a lot of pictures with people
thinking I’m John Lewis,” Cummings said.
He never wanted to embarrass anyone by
correcting them, he explained.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of the film is
how prophetic it is. Although it doesn’t offer any
reflection on the current moment, it also won’t
come as a surprise how we got here.
Georgia politician Stacey Abrams says that
Lewis, “Reminds us that our past is not past.”
Lewis’s greatest fear, he says, is that he will wake
up and democracy will be gone.
But, reassuringly, he’s not done yet.
“As long as I have breath in my body, I will do
what I can,” he says.
“John Lewis: Good Trouble,” a Magnolia Pictures
release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture
Association of America for “for thematic material
including some racial epithets/violence, and for
smoking.” Running time: 96 minutes. Two and a
half stars out of four.
MPAA Definition of PG: Parental guidance suggested.