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Great Film overall

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

I'm giving this movie a 10 because of its importance. The acting is great, but it isn't a riveting movie. It is an excellent example of what women go through when they speak out about sexual harassment and sexual abuse. It accurately portrays how people who know the abuser absolutely cannot believe the person capable of such acts. Our culture still does not understand sexual predators rarely look like bad people and in fact may do good things. Unfortunately no matter what a person's status is or how many good things they do, if they commit sexual crimes they have harmed another human being in a critical way and sometimes the damage is irreparable. Thank goodness Anita Hill's courage had a positive impact on society.

The HBO film, "Confirmation" documents the grueling events of Judge Clarence Thomas' US Supreme Court confirmation hearings. For a young person that is not as familiar with the history behind his confirmation to the US Supreme Court this film was very shocking and very upsetting. Before watching this movie I did not know about all of the controversy that surrounded his nomination and I had never heard of Anita Hill. When President Bush nominated Thomas (Wendell Pierce) to replace Thurgood Marshall the nation was overall convinced that he would be confirmed by the Senate. However when Anita Hill (Kerry Washington) is asked to come forward to with her testimony of sexual harassment against Thomas the chaos begins. The director Rick Famuyiwa includes news clips that were live during the hearings which enhances the audiences' experience. The news clips make the viewers feel as if the hearings are taking place now. Also this film includes many behind the scenes looks into what occurred without the public's knowledge and it is very disturbing. I would recommend this film because of the outstanding acting and the important message.

The movie itself is a credible by-the-numbers presentation of the firestorm that was the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings from the early 1990's. Where the made for t.v. movie really shines is in its character portrayals.Anita Hill is shown as a martyr; Clarence Thomas is portrayed as a creep, but not a criminal; Senator Biden is played as a well meaning boob; Senator Simpson comes off as out of touch; Senator Dansforth seems loyal to a fault; and the presidential administration looks to not care if the charges leveled against their nominee are true or not.While not exactly covering any new ground, the film at least appears to give a fig leaf to not choosing a side (though it leans in favor of Anita Hill). It's not a hatchet job, which is something actually worthy of praise these days.All in all, it's a solid film, and doesn't try too hard to create its own narrative. Not a bad way to spend a couple of hours on a weekend.

Almost twenty-five years ago, Anita Hill testified in front of an all-white male congressional hearing presided over by Senator Joe Biden, accusing Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, a legal concept that did not, as yet, resonate with the American public. In "Confirmation", an HBO mini-series, we see the reliving of the riveting testimony: Anita Hill's accusations and Clarence Thomas's defense with almost exact wording from the hearing transcripts. At times the hearing seems to deal with race – particularly after Thomas's "high tech lynching" comment, which struck an emotional chord for some and a signal for others that Hill's testimony would be discounted. What "Confirmation" actually zeroes in on is how Anita Hill's world on the job was radically different from a male colleague's. Although sexual harassment had been defined as a form of sexual discrimination in 1977, almost fifteen years later the term "sexual harassment" was still not in the public conscience. The Anita Hill testimony changed that. Read the entire review at: www.unhealedwound.com