iTunes Exclusive Episode Southside With You
Rob and Don review Richard Tanne's debut film Southside with You, which depicts Barack and Michelle Obama's first date on the South Side of Chicago in summer 1989. Starring Tika Sumpter as Michelle Robinson and Parker Sawyers as Barack Obama, the film runs just over an hour and is based on fact, with only one scene occurring later in their relationship. The hosts praise the chemistry between leads, the film's beautiful cinematography, and its handling of historical context without preachiness.
About this episode
Key takeaways
- The film is a one-day narrative focused entirely on a first date, making it surprisingly effective despite its short runtime
- Performances avoid caricature, with Sumpter capturing Michelle's pre-honed public persona and Sawyers presenting a naturalistic portrayal
- The film addresses race, class, and South Side Chicago issues organically without heavy-handed messaging
- The community center speech scene, while thematically important to show Barack's character, runs longer than necessary
Q&A
Is Southside with You politically preachy?
No. While it addresses issues of race and class reflective of 1989 Chicago, it does not beat audiences over the head with politics and focuses on the personal story of two people meeting.
How much of the film is based on true events?
According to director Richard Tanne, all but one scene is based in fact from their actual first date, drawn from the president's first book and interviews.
Who are the main cast members?
Tika Sumpter plays Michelle Robinson and Parker Sawyers plays Barack Obama, with Vanessa Bell Calloway in a minor role as Michelle's mother.
What is the hosts' recommendation for viewing?
Don recommends matinee pricing for a first date setting, while Rob suggests it works well as a date night for established couples to reflect on their own early relationship phases.
Read Transcript
Greetings Empire member and or members. If you are hearing the sound of my voice currently it means the following conditions have been met. At least once in your life you have listened to the clubhouse podcast live every Sunday, 7 Eastern, 4 Pacific, your one-stop shop for all things pop culture.
It also means you subscribe on iTunes because it's time for another iTunes exclusive welcome. My name is Rob. I am the executive producer of the clubhouse podcast and the 1989 was another summer and not listen to the punky drummer.
Some of you will get that in some of you won't and that's fine. We're going to be across the desk as the official fact checker of this show and a man that's he likes to go do stuff. You may know him as fun don go but his mom and I don't want him to come on for the welcome sir.
Especially like in about two weeks seen in the other for many brothers from a time we record. Some people here that she might already be there. Oh yeah.
Look at four to the. That's one thing I will do. Whenever we do one of these things it is to review something and this is no different.
Today we are going to review the film from first time director Richard Tane. It is called Southside with you. For we start this thing.
What we think and we have to make Carol Smith the gave her Smith. We're such fans of her. So much as such a sweet lady.
She really is a good organization and the USA film festival now that's done. Hey. Hey.
And thank you so much for the invite and could not be better to us. Oh yeah. Yeah.
And she added the movie brothers. She did. Yeah.
Friends of our counter part show. You go to their website at themoviebrothers.com, B-U-T-H-A-S.com. That's her website.
They've got a review up for this film as well by the time you hear this. It is the story of the very first date between Barack and Michelle Obama Michelle Robinson at the time. Takes place in the summer of 1989 which really is an interesting time for this film to be released because number one it's an election year.
Number two, some of the things that we're facing in our society right now kind of reflect some of the things that we're still going on back then because 1989 was a time when this country had seen some of its biggest change in scene in 20 years. And it's all come back around again. So to see it set up a set in front of that backdrop I think was really really interesting.
It's not a very long film. It's just barely an hour 20. Yeah.
But it takes place over the course of one day. So it's not like they had to stretch too much. Now according to the director who's also the writer, outside of one scene, the rest of the entire film is based in fact from there first date.
The only scene that actually did happen but it happened later was the community outreach in the meeting. Okay. So it's all based out in true story.
I've been told that some of it was taken from the president's first book. Oh really? Okay.
Some of it also from interviews. So let's get to it. That's the date.
Go ahead. That's the date. It's their first date.
That's the movie. That's all you need to know. Yeah.
The future first lady played by Tika Sumter. Does this name ring a bell to you at all? Yes it does.
I'm trying to figure it. But have you seen right along? Yes.
She was Kevin Hart's girlfriend. Okay. She's also insult playing the president, the future president is Parker Soyers.
You have the great Vanessa Bell Cowley makes an appearance in this as well. But really these two, the two mains are all you need to know because that's what it's about. Yeah.
There's a few minor roles that's it. I mean, she is a junior associate at a law firm in the South Side of Chicago. He is a summer, I guess you should call him and then turn.
Well, you say, Andrew, but he's a summer employee. Right. That's tempered summer, summer employee.
And they decide they're going to get together, go to this community outreach meeting which she doesn't know is that he's got a bunch of stuff planned before that. Yeah. And I really found this film.
The only word I can use is delightful because it's, it's got some really good light hearted moments in it. Yeah. Because we've all, you know, we've all been on a first date.
I don't know if any of us have been on a first date or the other person didn't know it was a first date. But yeah. But you know, just seeing that that awkwardness that they have towards it, because they really don't know each other very well.
They've seen each other around the office. They've heard the office gossip. But they don't really know much about each other and watching them get to know each other.
First of all, I felt the two of them had amazing chemistry. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
You really felt like you're kind of watching the young first couple and one thing it really shows in this movie, which I put in my written view of WWE, that clubhouse podcast.com. That's on whip side. It's real historical because how many times is this whole show him smoking a cigarette?
Oh, yeah. That's one thing he always said. He made it.
He shows up to pick her up in a 1980s, seven, nine songs, centra, dot to the dot dot to the genre. Yeah. And like with the whole of the bottom, it's like everybody knew that guy.
Yeah. You know, everything fit. It's shot.
Beautiful. Yeah. Absolutely.
Shot. What I really liked about this film is all I could think as I was watching it. I was like, this would make a really good stage production.
I agree. I really got to people to deal with in the sets you can interchange, but I thought just watching them interact with each other and us as the audience, not knowing what they as characters knew at the time that they would become the first couple and that he would be the leader of the free world for the better part of a decade. It makes it work so well.
And from a performance standpoint, what I really, really liked was they didn't go out of their way to try to be the people they're portraying. Like his Parker Sawyer's could have easily talked everything like this. I will talk here.
I will finish drunk. Everything we do. That's my Barack Obama.
It's not very good. But you see where I'm going. And Michelle is such a, I don't want to say larger than life personality, but she knows she commands a room so well, but she would have to think at the age she was at the time.
She still hadn't honed those skills. And I think that Tika Sumpter plays that very, very well. This is going to be one of those movies that's going to surprise people because you're going to have a lot of people, there's not a big, there's not, there are some political overtones too.
Not too much. But it's not really, it doesn't get real preachy. No, it, it addresses what's going on in the inner city on the South Side of Chicago.
It addresses, you know, they go to an African-American art exhibit where he does a really good speech about good times, which I thought that whole scene, that whole scene as them walking through the art gallery there was beautifully done. This is going to surprise, I think I wish it would get a wider opening because I think more people, this, this one needs to get in front of more people. The one thing I'd like to is how really show, when I was watching this thing, okay, I've had some bad bombs when it comes to dating.
I'm the first to say it, brother, at least as long as it's thing. Yeah, exactly. I have some horror stories, oh, and it kind of reminds me of several times when it's just, to remind you of your past and some of the stuff dating you've done, you know, I mean, my first date was with the girl named Michelle, and I drove up in my 1979, my first car, 1979, Mazda GLC hatchback with the plastic black chairs and the orange, it's too, bring it orange paint and we saw planes, trains and automobiles, okay, those aren't pillows.
Yeah, so, but it was kind of, it kind of reminded that the, you know, you're dating history and it really showed Michelle so it's in, uh, this is not a date, this is not a date and how he just did those little things over and over and over, just to try to chip that away, chip that away, and chip that away, and chip that away. Now, obviously, we know, we know they'll come, they're married. Again, we have the hindsight that they don't have at the time.
Yes, exactly, but, you know, so there's no, there's no big, you know, shocker at the end of what happens, but I, one thing I enjoyed so much was the, I'm going to say is the ice cream scene. Okay, for a final, you finally get that moment, that's on the ice cream scene, which leads to that moment. I thought that was so beautiful and I thought that was perfect, perfect, perfect.
Now, I do have one complaint, what's that? I, I understand why they did it, this film is only in our 20 true, but when he's, when he's talking at the community outreach center, and they have them, they're, you got the people debating on both sides and also Brock comes up and does this thing, and everybody, you know, that's all you speak to. Are they trying to get a community center built?
And he's been asked to come and speak to the community about that. I understand why they did it, because if you watch it, all the good stuff that scene him being out there and show that he cares everything, that really affected Michelle at the time. Yep, and you see that, you know, saying, oh my god, this kind of really, you know, but I think that scene was way overdone and too long.
I think they did to make a little filler material, so it reached that hour 20. I can see how you'd feel that way. I like that from the aspect of that speech, had an opening, it had a body, it had a closing.
He knew what he was about to do. You know, he had talked to his buddy who they had worked together before, and he had that all worked out. It didn't bother me as much as it bothered you.
I thought it was just, that's my only cry. I just thought that it was a little too long. It was an idea, but it's a good thing.
It was needed. It was perfect. It was good that it showed, and you understand why they did it.
I just thought they kind of did that a little, little, little too long. I just, I cannot stress enough to people that are listening to this podcast right now. Put your politics aside.
Yeah. When you can go see this film, because it's not about politics. It deals with issues, but it's just, it's a nice story about how two people meet.
And Michael Moore did not direct this. That is absolutely true. Yeah, absolutely true.
Yeah, absolutely true. But it's beautifully shot. The chemistry is good.
The pacing is good. You know, especially, I mean, you think about this a really short movie, but it's the, it's the length it needs to be. And it's about one thing.
A date. Yeah. And how they can make a movie about a first date.
So I thought that was really inventive on that. It's, and there's only a few minor roles. Do you see here, Michelle's mother and there for probably what?
A total of maybe two minutes on. It's played by Vanessa Bellcalo. Exactly.
You only see some, when they're at the movies, and they meet some person who's like they're a lot. They were a coworker, coworker. He was in there probably what two minutes.
Yes, mostly these two people go and talking. You know, I did find enjoyable the scene when when they arrive at the community center and all these, you know, older ladies come up and say, oh, that's your girlfriend. Oh, you're going to love him.
Don't let him go. Yeah, you know, that was funny. That was very, very funny.
That was funny. But I only had that one gripe. Besides that, I enjoyed it.
And I like what they did making the film of one thing. Again, ice cream scene loved it. Love it.
Shall we do the final announcement? Let's do it. The way we do the final analysis on the show.
We're not going to give you thumbs up, thumbs down. We're not going to give you letter grades, numbers, whatever. Our audience whom we affectionately refer to as the empire.
They want us to go deeper. So we're going to go deeper. There will be up to two questions asked on this.
Question number one is, would you see this film again? If the answer is no, we're done here. But if the answer is yes, then we're going to ask a second question.
And that second question is how far you will in the go to see it. From top to bottom, greatest to not greatest, it is full price in a theater. Twilight, Matt and A early morning, second run at the dollar theater, Red Box, Netflix, cable.
Don, would you see this again? Yes. How far you willing to go?
Let me have a little bit on this one. I'm going to give you a lot to. Yeah, exactly.
I'm going to say Matt named. Do you know why? Do the Matt name and do the dinner?
Because this would be a perfect movie on a first date, especially for a guy who's trying, who's on the edge, tried to really impress that woman. Okay. Because she'll give that mood of that persistence.
You know, this will help you out. Let's let the future president do the work for you. Yes, exactly.
Exactly. Exactly. If the first date, take her to this as a Matt name and do the dinner after.
Because it really, if you might have a little trouble, but you really like the slating. She seems a little guarded. Take her to this.
It will help you out. I'm going to go a different way with it. I would see this again.
Absolutely. But for me, I think it's a great date night for people that have been together for a while. That too.
So you can go and see it. I don't remember when we went through this awkward phase together. And you know, you were kind of making plans in your head that I wasn't or vice versa.
I think it's a good date. Again, put your politics to the side and go watch a good movie about a first date. Because that's what this film was about.
It's not about. I mean, again, there are issues addressed. Yes.
There are issues of race and class addressed, but they don't beat you over the head with it. It's just part of what the culture was in Chicago in 1989. But it's about two people.
But guys, if you're on the first date and you want to see a movie, take her to this one. And you want to take her to a really good soundtrack, too. Oh, yeah.
It's a great sound. Great soundtrack. Again, we got to think Carol Smith and Taylor Smith were the guys.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you. All right, show you to the plugs. Yes.
Let's give them. It is called Southside with you. It is directed by Richard Tad.
I'll also, by the way, one of the producers on this is the great John Legend. And that was him doing the song over the end credits. Okay.
So let's write them. You know, I'm a big fan of the John Legend. Visit our website, www dot the clubhouse podcast dot com.
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