Memorable, crazy movie

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Seen this movie when I was younger, and didn't appreciate it as much as I did with a second-viewing, maybe because I'm older and understand some more of the concepts of having dignity with injustice.Even though the movie is a made for TV HBO movie, it has some high-quality actors like Don Cheadle and Mekhi Pheifer with solid performances that isn't overly sentimental or preachy about the morals of right and wrong and injustice of the 1940s segregated South. Instead, it's a heart-touching look at how a person can live righteously even in the face of injustice.And kudos to the filmmakers as the scenery and even down to the accents seemed historically accurate. I felt like I wasn't watching a made for TV movie at all, well it was a HBO movie so that just shows you the high-quality that was put into it as in many HBO movies. A true must see for people that like historical movies, especially one with messages that overly preachy.

Don Cheadle is one of the finest actors of our time...period! He has played a variety of roles any actor would be proud of. From light comedy in The Golden Palace and recurring TV drama roles to great films such as A Lesson Before Dying, Hotel Rawanda and Crash. While some of his roles were strictly race oriented, such as these aforementioned films, he has played roles that a person with any racial or ethnic background could have played. Don Cheadle's masterful performances in all of his roles makes him a great actor and there is no denying this. Yes, of course, I see him as an African American, but most of his roles cross the racial divide. This again shows you the magnitude of his talent. I also find that many actors when playing very dramatic roles as in the three movies I mentioned, tend to be OVER-dramatic. Cheadle controls this beautifully and his emotions are strong, yet remain in check. Another attribute is the fact that he looks like the "guy next door." Not overly good looking with a chiseled face, but a nice, sincere, deep common man look that allows him to play so many roles. He is built beautifully as he shows his bare rear end in this film and also has been seen topless in some films and TV. I have seen almost all of his work and can not tell you how highly I think of his performances. He has got to be one of the best actors I have ever seen and rave about him constantly. He has never disappointed me. My only disappointment was that they didn't give co-Acadamy Awards for Best Actor to Fox for Ray and Cheadle for Hotel Rawanda. I am sure Cheadle will see that award someday very soon....

I read the book not that long ago, and had been trying for some time to locate this HBO version for some time. I finally recieved it as a Christmas present and watched it. It was fantastic! Screenwriter Ann peacock and director Joseph Sargent did a fantastic job bring Ernest Gaines' novel to the small screen. It's worth seeking out!

This would have been a very good movie if the acting were better. The script could have used some help also. The ideas are good. First of all Mr Cheadle was not believable and his romance was not too plausable either. This was a movie that counted on the audience to add up the pieces and take a lot for granted. It didn't really show the transformations depicted. We knew they were supposed to happen so they did but I really didn't feel the charactors making the changes I just new what would happen and it did.