Jasper, Texas

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Jasper, Texas ★★½ 2003

Dramatization of the 1998 hate crime that shook the small Texas town. When black James Byrd Jr. dies after being chained to the back of a pickup truck and dragged for three miles, the town's citizens find themselves at the center of a nationwide political and media frenzy. It's up to Sheriff Billy Rowles (Voight) and Jasper's first black mayor, R.C. Horn (Gossett Jr.) to portray the murder as an isolated incident, but the subsequent trial force the townsfolk to take a hard look at their community. Some Hollywood platitudes remain but the story is neither whitewashed nor sensationalized. 120m/C DVD . Jon Voight, Louis Gossett Jr., Joe Morton, Emily Yancy, Bokeem Woodbine, Blu Mankuma, Karen Robinson, Ron White, Eugene Clark; D: Jeff Byrd; W: Jonathan Estrin; C: Ousama Rawi. CABLE