The Last Brickmaker in America

To the posters looking for this on video, "Feature Films for Families" has released it on DVD. To anyone who knows that company's work, it should clue you in on what to expect immediately. It's not Hollywood, but it's quite good for a watch on the couch with the kids.

Sidney Poitier does fine with the role. True 'nuff, it doesn't have, perhaps, the depth of many of his other roles, but for what it is, he does a fine job and it's very enjoyable because of him.

As for the other actors, no stellar performances, but this thing isn't *supposed* to be a blockbuster. This is a "family movie" from a company that specializes in this market, not a big Hollywood production. It's the sort of thing you watch with the entire family and then talk about afterward ... what did you learn about {something}? Does our family have any problems similar to the one in the film? Have you ever felt like running away? etc., etc.

Yes, it's predictable and *of course* it has a "sappy" ending (although, IMHO, it could be a lot worse on that). "Everyone lives happily (ever) after". So what? Are we supposed to wish for a divorce and Poitier to die in the brick kiln? Lol, I'm amazed at the cynicism around here....

Egbert O'Foo

Maybe its corny,maybe its too family values but maybe because the world is going to hell in a hand basket it might just be time to reflect and rediscover values that made this country great at one time and perhaps once again hopefully and that is the value of this film.The story is simples,even dull but if you don't see part of what YOUR life was,or wished it could be or even tries to be today,than,with respect,your lying to yourself. Perhaps your moving to fast and have lost sight of"the forest for the trees"THAT my friends is the simple yet so often missed or just forgotten message of a truly rare family film as relevant today as in the year it was released 2001,and running only 85 minutes.The cast is headed by legendary Sidney Poitier as a 76 year old brickmaker whose wife of 60 years has recently died,and a few other fine character actors along with a relative unknown Cody Newton,as a 13 year old troubled teen, weave a story that won't work for everyone but just might let you see that damned forest that those trees keep getting in the way of if your willing to give it a chance and open those big baby blues of yours.

Unless he decides there's a project out there worthy of his talents The Last Brickmaker In America is the last time Sidney Poitier was seen on the big screen or small. His role as a bricklayer running a one man shop is like his Walter Miller from Lillies Of The Field, married and raised a family and found a trade.

It's a trade that Poitier is proud of. But bricks can be better mass produced and they're used less and less in construction, something that Poitier can't understand. I confess I don't either because as he says it bricks and stone are impervious to the elements and they're the sturdiest stuff out there. Poitier is pretty sturdy stuff himself, he's carrying on despite the recent loss of his wife.

Into his life comes young Cody Newton who is proving to be something of a disciplinary problem for both his mother Wendy Crewson and father Jay O. Sanders. The kid is acting out a lot, but it's a cry for attention and help. So Poitier and Newton bond and he starts helping him make bricks to fulfill a contract to build a library.

I saw this on a religious television and unusual since there was no overt religious message in The Last Brickmaker In America. But there is a simple message about love of craft and love of family. And in mass production that's something that's hard to acquire.

If in fact this is Sidney Poitier's farewell film, it's a beautiful one to go out on. His scenes with young Mr. Newton are really special. The Last Brickmaker In America is one fine family film.

I don't know why my original comment on this film never showed up. So here is my much abbreviated version that I can remember. Even though Sidney Poitier plays the "title" role as the Last Bricklayer, he is really incidental to the story. It is about a young boy who is caught up between his busy mother and demanding father who are separated. In trouble again at school, he is digging a ditch when Poitier comments on the clay, how it wants to be a brick. Intrigued, the boy visits Poitier who has the contract for the bricks to build the new library addition in honor of his deceased wife.

Boy actually moves in with the brickmaker, helps him. A storm washes out the first batch of drying bricks, so they get behind. Son asks mom to help, she says she doesn't have time. Son is disappointed, not so much because Poitier may not meet his contract, but because mom refused a favor her son asks. Eventually she helps, dad helps, gets fired for it, bricks are delivered on time, son, mom, and dad begin a new understanding of what is important, and perhaps a family reconciliation. Good story, well-done, and Poitier is his usual superb self.

Everything about this was movie was top-notch. The storyline; The acting; The scenery. I loved everything about it!!