Shadrach

OK it looks nice, and in Keitel and MacDowell it has two solid actors as leads. In the end though it is a rather tired, and illogical, attempt at spinning a southern yarn, set in the depression, about a large brood, and an old black man who returns to the family of his former owners to die.

The idea is fine, but the execution is lazy. Keitel is supposed to be a 'diamond in the rough', the kind of character who appears gruff and uncouth, but who at heart cares about people. This is portrayed by having him say 'god damn' and 'sh*t' in every single sentence. MacDowell is supposed to be an overworked, harrased mother of many. This is portrayed by having her drink beer in every single scene, and say 'suge' in every single sentence.

This leads to an awful lot of this...

Husband: God Damn, sh*t, I ain't got time to be burying some old black man.

Wife: Calm down suge, have a beer.

It tries, it really does, and i is certainly not a bad movie, but it has very little to offer beyond a simple story, decent actors, and some wonderful locations.

Scott Terra is one of my favorites. This movie here is a very good one, and he plays a substantial role. The story is fairly simple, but it is the fine cast and the cultural burden of how to deal with an old slave that adds a sincere message to the plot. Harvey Keitel plays - apart from Scott - a significant character. The messages of doing the right thing, of confronting the legacy of our cultural past and of dealing with death and the brittleness of life, mingled with the many calm and quiet sequences of the movie, make it a valuable example of emotional and sophisticated film-making. Scott is in the center, and he comes to experience both the tragedies and the magical moments of life, symbolized by the events of one summer's experiences.

How refreshing it is to see a movie about northeastern North Carolina-southeastern Virginia that could actually have been filmed in the area and that features people who could actually have lived here! Well, it was a bit hard to believe that after living a hard life and birthing that many children, Andie McDowell's character would still look young, thin, and pretty. If I thought it would make me look like that, I'd take up drinking beer.

Amazingly, Harvey Keitel is believable as the irascible father, and his accent is even tolerable. Perhaps what is amazing is his versatility as an actor, since he was also believable as Baines in "The Piano," Auggie in "Smoke" and "Blue in the Face," the police detective in "Thelma and Louise," and all those heavies in all those gangster films.

What should you expect if you view this film? A glimpse at what this part of the world looked like before WWII and farm-to-market roads and typhoid shots and birth control; a child's-eye view of growing up in a rural family in the Depression; a story about doing what's right. I liked it.

This is movie portrays childhood, summer and the 30s in a wonderful and poetic way. An old man's will to be buried in the land he was born is no easy subject to put up in a movie, but the makers managed to give this story a very touchy style which helped it a lot. Children should watch it and learn what the Depression was like and how close we actually are to those days (the boy is alive nowadays and has met a man who has been a slave - history's not that far at all). And they would also learn a very deep lesson on life and its ways.

For once Andie McDowell stars in a role different from the high-class girl she used to play (think about Green Card and The Groundhog Day). And for once Harvey Keitel doesn't get on my nerve!

A great movie based on the short story by William Styron, himself a native of the Virginia Tidewater, where the movie and story take place. I found the film very moving and accurate in its depiction of eastern Virginia during the Depression era-Styron based the short story on an actual childhood experience of his. Also I found the scenery and way in which it was composed especially noteworthy. The setting was just perfect and outstanding in every regard (ancient Live Oak and Cypress trees). All in all, a very good film, good effort was put into it and it shows.