'Southside With You' Movie True Story: Facts About Barack And Michelle Obama's First Date

"Southside With You," a film out Friday, explores the Obamas' first date. Over the course of 84 minutes, viewers will watch the eventual First Couple meet, flirt and have their first kiss in Chicago in 1989. Starring Tika Sumpter as Michelle Robinson and Parker Sawyer as Barack Obama, the new movie has already scored a 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and received critical acclaim.

But is it true?

Yes, mostly. "The trajectory of the date is about 90 percent accurate," director Richard Tanne told Vanity Fair earlier this year.

The Schedule

In a 2012 campaign video, the Obamas laid out the bare bones of their first rendezvous: They went to the Art Institute of Chicago, ate lunch, took a walk and saw "Do The Right Thing" in theaters. "It was a cool date, actually," Michelle Obama said in the video.

That's the general outline the movie follows, as well. In the film, however, the couple also goes to a community meeting during the date — which not might be totally correct.

"There was some question as to whether or not the community organizing meeting happened on the first date, or if it just happened early in the courtship but dramatically it worked, so I just put it in," Tanne told Vanity Fair.

The Details

The film was shot in Chicago, where the first date actually took place. The Chicago Tribune reported that the set for Michelle Obama's house is actually about two blocks from her actual home.

In the movie trailer, Barack Obama picks Michelle up for the date in a yellow Datsun. The president did, indeed, drive that car, according to the Daily Beast. In the 2012 book "Barack Obama: The Story," David Maraniss wrote that "he had another car, a used yellow Datsun that cost five hundred dollars. A hole would grow in the floorboard, but the engine was good enough to get him where he had to go."

However, Tanne had to fill in a few of the gaps. Chicago Mag pointed out that the director didn't know which pieces of art the duo looked at while at the museum, so he hand-selected a few.

The Kiss

On the View in 2012, Barack Obama said the couple's first kiss was at Baskin Robbins on 53rd Street in Chicago. "She bought chocolate. I don't remember what I bought," he said. "They didn't have any seats inside the store, so we sat out on the curb on a summer day and had ice cream. And that's when I asked if I could kiss her."

Producer Robert Teitel told the Chicago Tribune that the Baskin Robbins store in question isn't there today, but they shot close by.