Review: A civil-rights leader's past and present inform each other in documentary 'John Lewis; Good Trouble'

In the absorbing documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble,” director Dawn Porter tells two remarkable stories: One about an aging Georgia congressman scrapping to preserve voting-rights legislation under attack; the other about a young firebrand in the 1960s who nearly got killed protesting at lunch counters and in marches in the segregated South.

Yes, the subjects of both stories are the same man, Rep. John Lewis, which adds urgency to the historical record and gravity to the current action.

In the film, Porter (“Gideon’s Army,” “Trapped”) follows Lewis during the 2018 midterm elections. Then 78, Lewis keeps up an impressive schedule in his D.C. and Atlanta offices, and makes appearances for progressive Democratic candidates — all the while sounding the warnings about Republican efforts to suppress the vote, with voter ID laws and limits on polling places, all aimed at the young, the elderly and people of color.

Porter intercuts scenes of Lewis’ current fights with stirring footage of Lewis’ days as an activist during the civil-rights movement of the 1960s. He sat at whites-only lunch counters in Nashville, where he went to college. He rode with the Freedom Riders to desegregate bus stations across the South. He spoke at the March on Washington, one of the opening acts for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He marched on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Ala., and got his skull cracked by an Alabama state policeman’s club for his efforts — and, a week later, marched from that bridge to Montgomery with Dr. King.

Porter captures those moments of history with interviews with Lewis and others who are still alive to tell the story, augmented with remarkable footage — some of which, Lewis says at one point, he had never seen. She also tells Lewis’ personal story, of a young Alabama boy who went from raising chickens to raising awareness of the injustices against African-Americans.

Porter gets interviews with plenty of the greats, including Bill and Hillary Clinton, but doesn’t dwell on them. More interesting are interviews with his older colleagues — including Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina and the late Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland — who understand where Lewis’ came from, and the next generation of leaders who are following his example of righteous radicalism. (The whole “squad” is here: Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar all make appearances.) 

Porter’s documentary also shows the span of years between the ’60s and today, including the contentious primary against friend and fellow civil-rights icon Julian Bond in 1986, which first put Lewis in Congress. The movie shows how Lewis pivoted from activist to legislator, while always remembering that there are times where it’s important, in his words, “to make trouble, good trouble, necessary trouble” — and how Lewis, at 80, isn’t done doing just that. 

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‘John Lewis: Good Trouble’

★★★1/2

Available Friday, July 3, on the SLFS@Home and Utah Film Center virtual cinemas and other rental platforms, and playing at the Megaplex Theatres at The Gateway (Salt Lake City), Jordan Commons (Sandy) and The Junction (Ogden). Rated PG for thematic material including some racial epithets/violence, and for smoking. Running time: 96 minutes.