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 "Southside With You" dramatizes the Obamas' first date in the
summer of 1989 and sees Michelle Robinson, a 25-year-old lawyer
from Chicago, going out with Barack Obama, a summer associate at
her law firm.
Over the hours they spend together - which Michelle initially
insists is not a date - the two attend an Ernie Barnes art
exhibition, a community meeting, a screening of Spike Lee's
movie "Do The Right Thing," have drinks and eat ice cream as
they discuss their lives, ambitions and fears.
"You see in this film that they challenged each other, you know,
and they walked in each other's shoes and that they spoke about
their family, and I just think all that stuff is very real and
accessible to people," said actress Tika Sumpter, who plays
Michelle.
"Southside With You" takes details that the Obamas have shared
about their first date in various interviews, and imagines the
conversations they may have had.
Parker Sawyers, the actor who plays Barack Obama in the film,
said he started off with a "strong impersonation" of the
president, but then let the mannerisms and speech inflections of
his character come naturally.
The rapport between the two is courteous and playful in the
film, as Michelle feistily keeps her date at arm's length while
he uses charm to bring her guard down.
Barack Obama, who turned 28 that summer, married Michelle in
1992, three years after their first date.
The black community of Chicago's Southside serves as a backdrop
to the story. Michelle gets a glimpse of the future U.S.
president's early leadership skills when he takes her to a
community meeting to find a way to build a youth center.
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Later, the two momentarily clasp hands as they watch a harrowing
scene in "Do The Right Thing," where a black man dies after
being placed in a chokehold by a white policeman.
"They were seeing what was happening in Chicago, and obviously
Chicago is still in the news and issues between the citizens and
the police are still in the news, and the president has to deal
with that everyday," said musician John Legend, an executive
producer on the film.
Legend said the Obamas know about the film, adding "once they
see it, if they haven't already, I think they'll love it."
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Paul Simao)
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