Too much of a good thing is what comes out of this drama with music, making it a glimpse of a community with a lot of characters but nothing that really holds it together. A few key characters are surrounded by minor characters that interrupt the important stuff and distract the viewer from the meat of the story which is minimal. Its view of the struggles and the Injustices of a 1950's Alabama black Community was far too important to be told as slice of life, and this could have been an amazing historical document about that time.
It seems like just as you get to know one character, they are out of the story, and other characters are suddenly introduced that makes you wonder if and when they will get back to the ones whose stories have already been started. Danny Glover is the glue that holds the story together, and there's not even enough of him. Mable John, a real life blues singer, has a nice cameo, but most of the storyline surrounding her character occurs after she is found dead.
Lisa Gay Hamilton is a shining light, and Yaya DaCosta as her daughter is memorable to. Hamilton has a nice scene with Mary Steenburgen as her kindly employer, a white woman who obviously sees beyond skin color. There's also a guitar-playing blind man seems to be like the Greek chorus, providing a bit of wisdom to everyone who passes him by.
The film is gorgeous to look at with radiant colors and the music is glorious to listen to. But in wanting to listen to the stories of these people's hardships and the Injustice as they face, I only got little bits of that and that was a letdown. Director John Sayles obviously means well with what he is putting on screen here, showing the black workers still in the cotton fields 100 years after slavery, being paid a wage, but barely enough to survive. Glover as usual commands attention every time he is on screen, but unfortunately thanks to a weak script, I barely got to know anything about his character.
It seems like just as you get to know one character, they are out of the story, and other characters are suddenly introduced that makes you wonder if and when they will get back to the ones whose stories have already been started. Danny Glover is the glue that holds the story together, and there's not even enough of him. Mable John, a real life blues singer, has a nice cameo, but most of the storyline surrounding her character occurs after she is found dead.
Lisa Gay Hamilton is a shining light, and Yaya DaCosta as her daughter is memorable to. Hamilton has a nice scene with Mary Steenburgen as her kindly employer, a white woman who obviously sees beyond skin color. There's also a guitar-playing blind man seems to be like the Greek chorus, providing a bit of wisdom to everyone who passes him by.
The film is gorgeous to look at with radiant colors and the music is glorious to listen to. But in wanting to listen to the stories of these people's hardships and the Injustice as they face, I only got little bits of that and that was a letdown. Director John Sayles obviously means well with what he is putting on screen here, showing the black workers still in the cotton fields 100 years after slavery, being paid a wage, but barely enough to survive. Glover as usual commands attention every time he is on screen, but unfortunately thanks to a weak script, I barely got to know anything about his character.