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The Root

The Root is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Lawrence Ware, Ronda Racha Penrice, Shanelle Genai, Stephanie Holland, Tonja Renée Stidhum.

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Rating Title | Year Author Quote
The Wiz (1978) Lawrence Ware The acting is not great, but the reason for that could easily be that the director failed the actors.
Posted Nov 11, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Magazine Dreams (2023) Shanelle Genai "The film challenges us to examine how we view/treat those we perceive as threats but are actually moving through the world...carrying around their longing for connection like a sagging, heavy load that could explode from being unfulfilled at any second."
Posted Jun 19, 2024  Edit critic review
Young. Wild. Free. (2023) Shanelle Genai "So what’s a young man to do when his only escape appears to be the varying hand-drawn sketches adorning his walls and notepad and the solution to his problems appears nowhere in sight?"
Posted Jun 19, 2024  Edit critic review
A Thousand and One (2023) Shanelle Genai "And while strides may have been made to put more space between their fucked up beginning and the bright future ahead for Terry—the truth that’s been stewing and haunting their home built on lies is bound to bubble over to the surface."
Posted Jun 19, 2024  Edit critic review
Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. (2022) Shanelle Genai "...what do you do when the people you expect to walk more upright than the rest of us prove to be just as jacked up and arguably more mendacious as the sinners they act like they’re better than?
Posted Jun 19, 2024  Edit critic review
A
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) Lawrence Ware “Killers of the Flower Moon” is not a great film, but it is an important one.
Posted Oct 27, 2023  Edit critic review
C
Queen & Slim (2019) Lawrence Ware Queen & Slim Should Have Been a Great Movie
Posted Oct 13, 2023  Edit critic review
A+
The League (2023) Lawrence Ware Jackie Robinson may have integrated Major League Baseball over 70 years ago, but this film shows that it was, and continues to be, a white man’s sport.
Posted Oct 13, 2023  Edit critic review
A
He Got Game (1998) Lawrence Ware “He Got Game” shows that being young, gifted and Black in America is not easy. In fact, if you’re not careful, it can destroy you.
Posted Oct 13, 2023  Edit critic review
2.5/5
A Jazzman's Blues (2022) Shanelle Genai That’s not to say that I wasn’t still hesitant or had certain reservations going in. But it is to say that even for someone as annoyingly predictable as Perry, it’s still always possible to be surprised.
Posted Oct 13, 2023  Edit critic review
3/4
The Little Mermaid (2023) Shanelle Genai It can go without saying but Halle Bailey as Ariel is the most perfect casting for a live-action remake Disney has ever done. The way she was able to capture Ariel’s child-like inquisitiveness, stubbornness & yearning is something that should be studied.
Posted Oct 13, 2023  Edit critic review
3/4
They Cloned Tyrone (2023) Shanelle Genai It’s really the subplots that should get your brain turning. Chief among them is the film’s exploration of some Black folks’ adherence to conspiracy theories, no matter how outlandish.
Posted Oct 13, 2023  Edit critic review
Chevalier (2022) Shanelle Genai What stands to be Bologne’s tragic flaw for most of the film is the belief that his accomplishments, accolades, and celebrity-like status in society are enough to overpower the systemic racism that surrounds him.
Posted Aug 30, 2023  Edit critic review
Do the Right Thing (1989) Lawrence Ware Spike Lee's third film, Do The Right Thing, turns 30 years old on Sunday, July 21, but its message is so fresh that it could have been made today.
Posted Jul 22, 2019  Edit critic review
Rosewood (1997) Lawrence Ware America has not truly dealt with the race massacres that happened far too often early in the 20th century, and this filmmaker, aware of that, did his part to raise awareness.
Posted Jul 16, 2019  Edit critic review
Sleight (2016) Lawrence Ware This is not a perfect film, but I don't expect that from a superhero film. I want solid characters, convincing acting and solid action. The fact that this film gives all of that while being centered in the black experience makes it a must-see.
Posted Jan 09, 2019  Edit critic review
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