‘Till’ Does the Best It Can With One of History’s Saddest Stories

Few non-activist figures from the civil rights era have latched onto the American consciousness like Emmett Till. In 1955, the 14-year-old Chicagoan was brutally killed by two white men while visiting Mississippi; he had been accused of whistling at one of their wives, Carolyn Bryant, at a grocery store.

The U.S. Congress passing the Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act in March, 67 years after his death. And Hollywood has taken on the task of honoring Emmett’s...