''Sins of the Father'' is a 2002 American

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

directed by

Robert Dornhelm Robert Dornhelm (born 17 December 1947) is an Austrian film and television director. Biography Dornhelm is of Hungarian-Jewish descent born in Timișoara, Banat region, Romania. He has worked on numerous television programmes and has also rele ...

and written by

John Pielmeier John Pielmeier (born February 23, 1949) is an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. Life and career Pielmeier was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the son of Louise (Blackburn) and Len Pielmeier. He was raised Catholic. He earned a Bachelo ...

. It is based on an article by

Pamela Colloff Pamela Colloff is an American journalist. She has contributed to ''The New Yorker'', but a majority of her work has been featured in ''Texas Monthly'', where she was an executive editor. As of 2017, Colloff is a senior reporter at ProPublica and a ...

published in the April 2000 issue of ''

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

'', chronicling the 1963

16th Street Baptist Church bombing The 16th Street Baptist Church bombing was a terrorist bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. The bombing was committed by a white supremacist terrorist group. Four members of a local Ku Klux ...

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

, in which four young African-American girls were killed while attending Sunday school. The victims were Addie Mae Collins, 14 yrs old; Denise McNair, 11 yrs old; Carole Robertson, 14 yrs old; and Cynthia Welsley, 14 yrs old. It was believed that there were 5 girls together in the church basement on that fateful day, but only one survived: young Sarah Collins, Addie Mae's younger sister. The bombing was racially motivated and carried out by members of the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

. The film was first aired on January 6, 2002 on FX.

Plot

Tom Cherry (Tom Sizemore), a middle-aged man, has difficult decisions to make when the police reopen the investigation into the 1963

in which his father, Bobby Frank Cherry (Richard Jenkins), was involved. Now, Tom has to decide whether to protect his father or to turn him in and let justice finally be done.

Cast

Tom Sizemore Thomas Edward Sizemore Jr. (; November 29, 1961 – March 3, 2023) was an American actor. Born in Detroit, he started his career with supporting appearances in '' Born on the Fourth of July'' (1989), '' Lock Up'' (1989), and '' Blue Steel'' (19 ...

as Tom Cherry *

Richard Jenkins Richard Dale Jenkins (born May 4, 1947) is an American actor. He is well known for his portrayal of deceased patriarch Nathaniel Fisher on the HBO funeral drama series ''Six Feet Under (TV series), Six Feet Under'' (2001–2005). He began his c ...

Bobby Frank Cherry Bobby Frank Cherry (June 20, 1930 – November 18, 2004) was an American white supremacist, terrorist, and Klansman who was convicted of murder in 2002 for his role in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The bombing killed four young ...

* Brenda Bazinet as Virginia Cherry *

Lachlan Murdoch Lachlan Keith Murdoch (; born 8 September 1971) is a British and Australian businessman and mass media heir. He is the son of the media Business magnate, tycoon Rupert Murdoch. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, chairman of N ...

as Young Tom *

Colm Feore Colm Joseph Feore (; born August 22, 1958) is a Canadian actor. A 15-year veteran of the Stratford Festival, he is known for his Gemini-winning turn as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in the CBC miniseries '' Trudeau'' (2002), his portrayal of ...

as Dalton Strong *

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames ( ; born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the Mission: Impossible (film series), ''Mission: Impossible'' film series (1996–2025) and crime boss Marsellus Wal ...

as Garrick Jones * Jessica Gray Charles as Denise McNair * Funmiola Lawson as Cynthia Wesley * Aaryn Doyle as Carole Robertson * Isys McKoy as Addie Mae Collins * Mica Le John as Sarah Collins * Kim Roberts as Mrs. Wesley * Delores Etienne as Older Woman at Church * Sandi Ross as Sunday School Teacher *

Ardon Bess Ardon Bess (born 1941) is a Canadian actor best known for appearing in a ''Heritage Minutes'' short film about the 1958 Springhill mining disaster portraying survivor Maurice Ruddick, and for playing Nestor "The Jester" Best in the sitcom '' King ...

as Minister at Church * Michael Rhoades as Tommy * Bruce McFee as

Robert Chambliss Robert Edward Chambliss (January 14, 1904 – October 29, 1985), also known as "Dynamite Bob", was a white supremacist terrorist convicted in 1977 of murder for his role as conspirator in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. A member ...

* Tony Munch as Herman Cash *

Simon Reynolds Simon Reynolds (born 19 June 1963) is an English music journalist and author who began his career at ''Melody Maker'' in the mid-1980s. He subsequently worked as a freelancer and published a number of books on music and popular culture. Reynold ...

as Troy Ingram *

Tom McBeath Tom McBeath is a Canadian actor. He is the winner of three Jessie Awards best known for playing Col. Harold Maybourne on ''Stargate SG-1''. In 2017, he started playing Smithers on '' Riverdale''. Biography He appeared in an episode of ''Street ...

J. Edgar Hoover John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 – May 2, 1972) was an American attorney and law enforcement administrator who served as the fifth and final director of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI) and the first director of the Federal Bureau o ...

Production

The film was shot in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. The cast includes

Jackie Richardson Jackie Richardson (born January 4, 1947) is a Canadian singer and actress. Richardson is known for her screen roles in '' Turning to Stone'', '' The Gospel According to the Blues'', ''The Doodlebops'', and '' Sins of the Father''. She is also kn ...

Connor Price Connor Price (born 11 November 1994) is a Canadian actor, rapper, and internet personality. He began his career as a child actor and became a musician. He is best known for his viral "Spin the Globe" series featuring artists from many countrie ...

, Aaryn Doyle, Isys McKoy, Jessica Gray Charles, and Funmiola Lawson.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film has an approval rating of 50% based on reviews from 6 critics. Andy Webb from "The Movie Scene" gave the film four out five stars and wrote: "What this all boils down to is that "Sins of the Father" is an extremely powerful movie which doesn't hold back when it comes to showing the racism of the 1960s and then building a modern drama around it with a son's conflict. It will be too brutal for some but it is worth it as it will shock and move you whilst also showing a trio of actors playing difficult roles extremely well."

Accolades

Rhames was nominated for the

Black Reel Award The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African Americans in film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the Afr ...

for Best Actor and the

NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special This article lists the winners and nominees for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. Currently Blair Underwood holds the record for most wins in this category with four. Winners and no ...

. Pielmeier's teleplay earned him nominations for the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

and the

Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...

. ''Sins of the Father'' was also nominated for an

Artios Awards The Casting Society, formerly known as the Casting Society of America (CSA), is a professional association of about 1,200 casting directors and associate casting directors for film, television, theatre, and commercials in Canada, Europe, Austral ...

in the category of "Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week". The film was also nominated for an

NAACP Image Awards The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. The over 40 ...

for "Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special".

References

External links

* * {{Robert Dornhelm 2002 television films 2002 films 2002 crime drama films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films American crime drama films American drama television films American films based on actual events Artisan Entertainment films Civil rights movement in film Civil rights movement in television Crime drama films based on actual events American crime television films Films about father–son relationships Films about the Ku Klux Klan Films based on newspaper and magazine articles Films directed by Robert Dornhelm Films scored by Harald Kloser Films set in Alabama Films shot in Toronto FX Networks original films History of Birmingham, Alabama Television films based on actual events English-language crime drama films