Constellation

Stunning performances by Billy Dee Williams, Gabrielle Union, Leslie Ann Warren, and Zoe Saldana. Melissa DeSousa was perfect as the daughter trying to please her daddy (Billy Dee). The scene between Leslie Ann Warren and Rae Dawn Chong was very powerful. The contention between the two women in one mans life came across on screen beautifully. Hill Harpers scene with Billy Dee Williams in the housing project was powerful, sensitive and touching. Miss Unions narration of the story line is unique and memorable. But Zoe Saldana's self searching role was haunting. She emotes talent and deep feelings in her work. Truly destined to greatness. Jordan walker-Perlman's directing really tugs at the heart string with the way he displays the interpersonal relationships of the characters.

Constellation" Shines with the Brilliant Beauty of Its Namesake.

It is interesting to note that the movie CONSTELLATION was first screened in 2005, just after the Academy Award-winning CRASH. And like "Crash," it provides a penetrating look into how race relations have influenced the American character; but un-like "Crash," it gives much more credit to the role that love has played in developing that character. Director-writer Jordan Walker-Pearlman opens his film with a quote from Jeffery Seaver in which the author observes that between love and death, "Love is more powerful and lasts longer." The film "Constellation" attempts to prove that point by tracing the history of an interracial relationship and its painfully mixed impact upon the lives of the couple involved as well as their family and friends.

Set in Huntsville, Alabama, the movie starts around World War II when a very bold young black woman named Carmel Boxer, played with effecting simplicity by Gabrielle Union, and a young white soldier named Bear, played by Daniel Bess, defy social convention and the law by pursuing a secret romance. With her younger brother Helms Boxer acting as their look-out, they enjoy brief times together hidden by the cover of night; until Carmel decides to visit Bear in broad daylight as his platoon is preparing to deploy. That decision proves devastating when her lover is ordered to walk away from her and board his train, leaving Carmel behind in a room where several white men assault her. We do not see an actual gang rape but the implication is clear enough and so is the bitter aftermath. We come to understand that aftermath some 50 years later shortly following Carmel's death as family members and friends--Black and White--gather to mourn her passing as well to make some kind of peace between each other.

Veteran actor Billy Dee Williams plays the now mature Helms who, unable and unwilling to cope with his country's racism, has made a life for himself as an artist in Paris. The price of doing so, however, has been the loss of a viable relationship with either of his daughters, and, two apparently failed marriages. Relationship is a key word for this movie because the "Constellation" referred to by the title more than anything else is a constellation, or grouping, of deeply intimate interactions. Relationships between lovers, between a brother and a sister, between friends, between Blacks and Whites, and between the past and the present. Walker-Pearlman weaves these relationships together and explores their human depths with sheer mastery set to a mesmerizing score of America's classical music forms, including jazz, gospel, American classic, folk, and rap. In his vision of America, specifically the U.S., racial antagonism comprises only a fraction of what has bound Blacks and Whites together. They have also been bound by shared culture, history, tragedies, triumphs, and blood.

Plum acting roles are rare for veteran black male actors but that of Helms Boxer is a perfect fit for Williams, who actually is an accomplished visual artist as well as an actor. He finds himself in good company with a constellation of bona fide stars that include: Lesley Ann Warren, Rae Dawn Chong, Clarence Williams III, Hill Harper, and Zoe Saldana.

Recent high profile interracial marriages might lead some to feel that "Constellation" squeezes a bit too much drama out of the subject. But anyone under that impression might consider that the last laws officially barring interracial marriage in the United States were just taken off the books, in the year 2000, in the very state where this movie is set: Alabama. One of the great triumphs of the film is its ability to acknowledge the agony of past prejudices while celebrating the triumphs of family and love in the here and now.

I enjoyed this movie at the Roxbury Film Festival in Boston in August 2005. It showed an interracial family that was clearly professional and it was set in the South in a non-stereotypical way. It also dealt with an ill-fated interracial love-story in a way that I thought was realistic. It had romance, tension, and good acting from all the actors. It did have the never-ending closing that is a feature of so many Hollywood films but I don't hold it against the filmmaker. It was good to see Billy Dee Williams and Lesley Warren, two under-utilized talents in my opinion. One of the ways I judge whether a film is good or not is whether it makes me care about the characters and story and want to know more. Constellation did that. I wanted to know more about Gabrielle Union's character. We see her during her youth and hear about her after her death. I wanted to know more about the intervening years. Also wanted to know more about Billy Dee Williams' character's decision to be come an expatriate. I hope the film gets released and would encourage people who are looking for a good family story to see it.

I'm going to be generous here and give it a 3 only because I live in Huntsville and it was great to see how well the city was filmed. That said, this movie was pretty bad. It's like they started off with hardly any script and the director just told the actors to stare at each other meaningfully with a lot of music playing over it. And Billy D. Williams looked like he'd rather be anywhere but in this movie. It's just a mess. I think I could write a script better than the dislodge for this film, and I'm no writer.

There is one thing I've seen mentioned throughout the reviews and message boards--everyone is under the impression that the movie begins around World War 2 and actually it seemed more like it was supposed to start out in the late 1950's/early 1960's. While the military was not segregated by then, I'm pretty sure that any troops waiting to board a train would still be segregated in a place like Huntsville, Al. If the beginning of film was supposed to be the 1940's, then Billy D, Lesley Ann & Rae Dawn would have to have been in the 70's and 80's instead of their mid 50's or early 60's.

Don't waste your time unless you really, really like the actors because the story isn't very interesting.

It did Huntsville, Alabama justice. While not the greatest movie ever made, Constellation does a decent job of showing the south without stereotyping it. Billy Dee Williams has trouble coming to terms with the fact his sister threw her life away for someone she thought loved her.

While tense at some points, dramatic at others, I liked this movie because of the location. The story took some time to get into. I've watched it twice now and have taken a liking to it.

The acting isn't that good, the dialogue isn't capturing, and the subplots needed a little more work. The movie is still pretty good. It certainly isn't a groundbreaking film piece sure to change the world, but it's a decent "B" movie.