Miramax's "Down in the Delta" is a riveting, inspiring tale of one black family's rebirth.
Featuring a splendid lead performance by Alfre Woodard and directed with compassion and deliberate delicacy by Maya Angelou, "Delta" will warm viewers' hearts with its universal sensibility.
In this sobering production -- a Miramax, Showtime presentation -- Woodard stars as Loretta, an addled alcoholic-druggie staggering around Chicago's Cabrini Green while her two young children, Thomas (Mpho Koaho) and Tracy (Kulani Hassen), are left to the matriarchal care of Loretta's solid mother, Rosa (Mary Alice).
So far, Thomas is the only kid in his project not packing and Rosa fears it's only a number of weeks before he, too, will tote a gun. Loretta's personal disintegration is so steep that Rosa fears her daughter will soon overdose.
In Rosa's practical and caring mind, there's only one option -- send them down to the old family home in the South and get them off the mean streets for at least one summer.
Above all, "Delta" is a story of rebirth, albeit not always a smooth one. Loretta and the kids find the backwaters of the Mississippi delta alien territory. Their kindly kinfolk, namely the elderly patriarch Earl (Al Freeman Jr.) also find them perplexing.
But Earl, with his calm and loving manner, takes them into his grand old home and nurtures them. It's a sometimes rocky process, but he even gets Loretta to work in his chicken restaurant -- the only consistent job she's had on her feet.
Laced with loving wisdom and bolstered by unflinching realism, "Delta" is a marvelous story. Credit scriptwriter Myron Goble for sobering, uplifting writing and director Angelou for lyrical and kindly direction.
Yet it's the performances that are the most winning, chilling part of "Delta". Woodard, with her druggie twitches eventually abating to strong-willed determination, is an absolute marvel. She takes her performance to her character's most demeaning depths and then, along the way to regeneration, shows all the tremors of physical and ethical recovery.
As the steady and gentle Earl, Freeman gives a performances that is steely in its gentleness.
Alice exudes familial strength as Loretta's saintly but wily mother, while Koaho is splendidly exuberant as Loretta's do-right boy.
Wesley Snipes does a strong turn as Earl's successful son, a complex performance showing the conflicts of material success.
From William Wages' warm-hued cinematography to Stanley Clarke's artful musical tonalities, "Down in the Delta" is a work of superb storytelling.
DOWN IN THE DELTA
Miramax Films
Showtime presents
an Amen Ra Films and Chris/Rose Prod.
Producers: Rick Rosenberg, Bob Christiansen, Victor McGauley, Wesley Snipes, Reuben Cannon
Director: Maya Angelou
Screenwriter: Myron Goble
Director of photography: William Wages
Production designer: Lindsey Hermer-Bell
Editor: Nancy Richardson
Co-producers: Terri Farnsworth, Myron Goble, Alfre Woodard
Music: Stanley Clarke
Casting: Reuben Cannon & Associates
Costume designer: Maxyne Baker
Color/stereo
Cast:
Loretta: Alfre Woodard
Earl: Al Freeman Jr.
Rosa Lynn: Mary Alice
Annie: Esther Rolle
Zenia: Loretta Devine
Will: Wesley Snipes
Thomas: Mpho Koaho
Tracy: Kulani Hassen
Monica: Anne Marie Johnson
Running time -- 111 minutes...
Featuring a splendid lead performance by Alfre Woodard and directed with compassion and deliberate delicacy by Maya Angelou, "Delta" will warm viewers' hearts with its universal sensibility.
In this sobering production -- a Miramax, Showtime presentation -- Woodard stars as Loretta, an addled alcoholic-druggie staggering around Chicago's Cabrini Green while her two young children, Thomas (Mpho Koaho) and Tracy (Kulani Hassen), are left to the matriarchal care of Loretta's solid mother, Rosa (Mary Alice).
So far, Thomas is the only kid in his project not packing and Rosa fears it's only a number of weeks before he, too, will tote a gun. Loretta's personal disintegration is so steep that Rosa fears her daughter will soon overdose.
In Rosa's practical and caring mind, there's only one option -- send them down to the old family home in the South and get them off the mean streets for at least one summer.
Above all, "Delta" is a story of rebirth, albeit not always a smooth one. Loretta and the kids find the backwaters of the Mississippi delta alien territory. Their kindly kinfolk, namely the elderly patriarch Earl (Al Freeman Jr.) also find them perplexing.
But Earl, with his calm and loving manner, takes them into his grand old home and nurtures them. It's a sometimes rocky process, but he even gets Loretta to work in his chicken restaurant -- the only consistent job she's had on her feet.
Laced with loving wisdom and bolstered by unflinching realism, "Delta" is a marvelous story. Credit scriptwriter Myron Goble for sobering, uplifting writing and director Angelou for lyrical and kindly direction.
Yet it's the performances that are the most winning, chilling part of "Delta". Woodard, with her druggie twitches eventually abating to strong-willed determination, is an absolute marvel. She takes her performance to her character's most demeaning depths and then, along the way to regeneration, shows all the tremors of physical and ethical recovery.
As the steady and gentle Earl, Freeman gives a performances that is steely in its gentleness.
Alice exudes familial strength as Loretta's saintly but wily mother, while Koaho is splendidly exuberant as Loretta's do-right boy.
Wesley Snipes does a strong turn as Earl's successful son, a complex performance showing the conflicts of material success.
From William Wages' warm-hued cinematography to Stanley Clarke's artful musical tonalities, "Down in the Delta" is a work of superb storytelling.
DOWN IN THE DELTA
Miramax Films
Showtime presents
an Amen Ra Films and Chris/Rose Prod.
Producers: Rick Rosenberg, Bob Christiansen, Victor McGauley, Wesley Snipes, Reuben Cannon
Director: Maya Angelou
Screenwriter: Myron Goble
Director of photography: William Wages
Production designer: Lindsey Hermer-Bell
Editor: Nancy Richardson
Co-producers: Terri Farnsworth, Myron Goble, Alfre Woodard
Music: Stanley Clarke
Casting: Reuben Cannon & Associates
Costume designer: Maxyne Baker
Color/stereo
Cast:
Loretta: Alfre Woodard
Earl: Al Freeman Jr.
Rosa Lynn: Mary Alice
Annie: Esther Rolle
Zenia: Loretta Devine
Will: Wesley Snipes
Thomas: Mpho Koaho
Tracy: Kulani Hassen
Monica: Anne Marie Johnson
Running time -- 111 minutes...
- 9/18/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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