In a major change, it stars Ving Rhames as an outsider who comes into Rosewood and inspires residents to self-defense, wielding his pistols in a fight.

The supporting cast includes Don Cheadle as Sylvester Carrier, a resident who was a witness, defender of his family and victim of the riot; and Jon Voight as John Wright, a sympathetic white store owner who lives in Rosewood.

Rosewood is home to the Carriers, an upwardly mobile black family, led by a matriarch, Aunt Sarah, and her proud, headstrong son, Sylvester.

The black residents of Rosewood are quickly targeted by a white mob, including men from out of state and members of the Ku Klux Klan.

Outside the church, Mann clashes with John Wright, a Navy Spanish American War veteran and the owner of a general store, one of the few white residents of Rosewood.

After making an unsuccessful attempt to intervene on James' behalf, Wright reluctantly allows Sheriff Walker to take Carrier into custody because the officer said he only wanted to question him.

When the posse gets to the border of Alachua County, a group of armed deputized white men and a sheriff block the roads and turn them back.

The film version, written by screenwriter Gregory Poirier, created a character named Mann, who enters Rosewood as a type of reluctant Western-style hero.

Asked about why he decided to tackle this subject, Singleton said: "I had a very deep—I wouldn't call it fear—but a deep contempt for the South because I felt that so much of the horror and evil that black people have faced in this country is rooted here ...

The site's critics consensus reads: "In some respects, Rosewood struggles to present a full picture of the real-life tragedy it dramatizes, but it remains a harrowing depiction of racial violence.

[9] Roger Ebert gives the film 3.5 stars out of 4, stating that "... What makes it more is the way it shows how racism breeds and feeds, and is taught by father to son.

"[10] Stanley Crouch of The New York Times described Rosewood as Singleton's finest work, writing: "Never in the history of American film had Southern racist hysteria been shown so clearly.

"[11] E. R. Shipp in The New York Times suggested that Singleton's youth and his background in California contributed to his willingness to take on the story of Rosewood.

Journalist Gary Moore, who reported the events in 1982, breaking open decades of silence, believed that Singleton's creating Mann, an outside character who inspires the citizens of Rosewood to fight back, was condescending to survivors.

I think more black folks were comfortable watching Booty Call that weekend than Rosewood … which is a shame… I feel the more we embrace our history the better we can defend against being oppressed in our present“[15]