A Thousand and One

Premiering at Sundance, A Thousand and One tells the story of a mother and son, navigating against hardship, the weight of New York City policies, gentrification, and a secret. There's a feeling of tension throughout the film, waiting for what may happen to Inez and Terry, though it also evokes the edge and breathlessness that comes with living with the weight of poverty and NYC racism. For its beats about NYC history, the film serves reminders of the barriers faced by Black families in Harlem in 1990's and into 2000's. If there is a criticism, there are moments when the script could have been tighter, perhaps a bit more time with Terry. Teyona Taylor is a star for carrying so much of the emotional weight across this film, but also William Catlett as Lucky plus Josiah Cross and Aaron Kingsley Adetola as Terry are stellar.

Since the trailer I was drawn to Teyana Taylor's portrayal of a mother trying to make ends met to raise her son. I was not disappointed in her performance in the slightest. She absolutely deserves recognition for her role in this film. William Catlett was also very good and had good chemistry with Teyana. All the other actors were also very convincing in their roles. I would just say I expected a bit more emotion from Josiah Cross in one of the scenes towards the end of the film.

This movie does a great job at portraying the grittiness of New York and the hardships that many have to endure. The film does a good job at building the relationships between the main three characters. The problem with this film is that it took too long to get into the climax. Constant situations would arise but it was apparent that there had to be something more to the story being told. The audience is left waiting too long for that major turning point in the film.

When the film finally got to that much awaited moment it did deliver a heartwarming moment. This is a very deep story and I would recommend people watch it for how real and relatable the story is.

I was SO looking forward to this and the trailer really made it seem like it was going to be both really intense and a tearjerker.

For me, it failed to deliver on both of those points. I was bored and struggled to stay engaged. It wasn't until the final 15 or 20 minutes of the film that things started to get interesting enough to warrant sticking it out to the end.

Until then, it felt like a bunch of rather jumbled-up plot lines that didn't come together coherently. There wasn't a strong thread of a story, or at least there didn't seem to be, until the final act.

Plus, I never felt the emotional connection between the son and either of his parental figures -- or between the two parents themselves. None of them seemed particularly attached to each other, so even the final act carried a lot less emotional weight for me, because it didn't feel they'd "been through something" together -- it just felt like they had spent their lives living side by side, but never strongly connected emotionally.

There were a few lines here and there that were meant to telescope the parental figures' devotion to the kid... but they honestly fell flat, because they were just inserted into the middle of what felt like a bunch of random scenes of people just living their lives (I guess I should give points for realism... but I do watch movies to do more than just observe people living ordinary lives).

To be clear, it wasn't the actors' fault. Their performances were really, really good. I just don't think they were given a good enough script to bring things together. The story should have been tighter, more focused, and the script more intense, and then the underlying plot would have really sucker-punched the viewer (because it DOES have a unique plot).

The score is great. And with such good acting and a unique plot, I just wish the final product would have come together better.

It's a drama about what makes a family set in New York City, mostly Harlem, between 1994 and 2005. It follows a high-energy but emotionally-damaged young African American woman who tries to create a family in compensation for the one she never had.

In 1994, Inez (Teyana Taylor) has just been released from a prison term for stealing. She is hot-headed and confrontational and has difficulty maintaining relationships. Inez sees her son on the street, a ward of the state, and in foster care. When Terry (Aaron Kingsley Adetola/Aven Courtney/Josiah Cross) is injured in a fall, Inez goes to the hospital and convinces him to leave with her secretly. She cautions him not to leave their living quarters because the state would seize him again. She arranges fake papers for Terry under a different name.

We follow a deep relationship grow between Inez and Terry. Later Lucky (Will Catlett), Inez's partner who has just emerged from prison, joins the small family. Lucky and Terry also develop their own relationship, even as Inez and Lucky have a sometimes rocky one. We learn that Terry is brilliant but has a very reserved personality. Counselors at school encourage him to attend a tech school for gifted children, to which Terry reluctantly assents. Finally, before Terry turns 18, multiple events cause chaos for Inez and Terry, with a particular twist at the film's end.

"A Thousand and One" is a taunt, well-done drama. Teyana Taylor, who is very striking in appearance and dominates the screen any time she is on it, carries the movie. Will Catlett is an excellent Lucky. Aaron Kingsley Adetola is remarkable as the six-year-old Terry. However, I found Aven Courtney and Josiah Cross less impressive as the teenage Terry. Perhaps the problem was the script; for someone as smart a teenager as the film portrayed Terry, he seemed too passive concerning his surroundings and his questions about his early personal history.

"Why do you keep leaving me?" Terry ( Aaron Kingsley Adetola)

While this lament in the remarkable A Thousand and One is from a 6-year-old Harlem kid to his ex-con mother, Inez (Teyana Taylor), it stands for those who regret the quickly gentrifying part of NYC that is losing its black identity to white incursions.

So goes one of the best dramas of the year as that feisty mom steals the son she lost from a foster home to create a home that she regularly leaves to fight for with "no tools" other than her remarkable energy and combativeness. As we navigate the many episodes of her fight and watch her Terry grow into an intelligent albeit muted young man, first-time writer/ director A. V. Rockwell nimbly shows the changes overcoming Harlem in the nineties and the young Terry during 15 years rising academically to qualify for NYC's noted tech schools. As in Moonlight, we see a seamless transition among the three actors in the three stages of Terry's life.

One of the stars of this accurate and humane melodrama is DP Erik K. Yue, whose lens captures the changes with a sharp eye for the telling detail, like graffiti and corporate businesses replacing long-lost street artistry and bodega charm. Not needing such eye-pleasing photography are the aggressive policing tactics, notably the stop-and-frisk action that affected young black males more than any other minority. When Terry is accosted, his muted reaction emphasizes the quiet terror that dogged young men in nineties Harlem.

Not all is gloom in A Thousand and One, for Lucky (William Catlett, a combo of Idris Elba and Delroy Lindo) exemplifies strong black males with big hearts and the flaws that too-often accompany such gifts. Lucky marries Inez perhaps not realizing the collateral damage mother and son can inflict. Yet, he does contribute to their welfare, mostly in wise counsel. For Terry, he provides the impetus to make his own decisions. As in the drama itself, Lucky shows that tough conditions accompany a tough life, and self-reliance, like Mom's, is the key to eventual deliverance.

My guest critic on It's Movie Time, Mindy Mcfann, claims this is the best movie she's seen in years. Pay attention to her-she has impeccable taste about street drama.