sibel grouse: Cuba Gooding Jr. Calls 'Red Tails' An 'Amusement Park Ride'

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Cuba Gooding Jr. Calls 'Red Tails' An 'Amusement Park Ride'

'It didn't hurt that George Lucas spent the last quarter of a decade trying to get this story' made, actor tells MTV News.
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Cuba Gooding Jr. in "Red Tails"
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

The upcoming World War II drama "Red Tails" tells many stories. First and foremost, it's the story of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen, the country's first African American air regimen. Within that story are tales of social injustice and a historical wartime drama. It's also a big-budget action movie produced by George Lucas.

With so much to accomplish, "Red Tails" has a lot on its plate dramatically speaking. One of the stars of the film, Cuba Gooding Jr., told MTV News recently that the film manages to find the right balance.

"I think it strikes it in the subject matter," Gooding said. "It didn't hurt that George Lucas spent the last quarter of a decade trying to get this story onto the big screen.

"The fact that you have the story of these warriors, whose story has been suppressed up until this date — except for smaller instances — are finally getting their due, educating the audience of what African Americans did in the war effort in World War II ... told by George Lucas, Star Wars," Gooding said. "You're going to see an amusement park ride."

Gooding concluded that all of those elements came together for a proper telling of the story. "I think that's how you get the balance," he added. "You get a filmmaker who is so passionate he's putting his own dough up to the tune of $100 million-plus. You see it on the screen."

Gooding's co-star, Nate Parker, tried to chime in with a comment of his own, but the Academy Award-winning actor stopped Parker jokingly. "No, no, no, no. That was enough," Gooding said. "I'm just kidding. Speak your mind, brother."

For Parker, the answer to the film's success is simple. "Risk and reward," he said. "He took a risk, and now I think he's being rewarded in a major way because I think the film is fantastic."

Check out everything we've got on "Red Tails."

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