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Last Updated: Mar 13th, 2008 - 12:39:44 |
In “Honeydripper,” the virulent racism of 1950’s Alabama exists as a matter-of-fact backdrop to the lives of Black a nightclub owner, his family and his friends. Director John Sayles captures the joys and sorrows of Tyrone Purvis, his wife and their surroundings without ever sinking to the level of a soap opera, a pity party or heavy-handed social commentary.
While we follow the central story of Tyrone (Danny Glover) trying to draw the drinking and dancing crowd to his establishment, there is also, at the same time, the strained relationship between he and his wife Delilah (Lisa Gay Hamilton), the upwardly mobile aspirations of their teen-age daughter China Doll and, in general, the hard-scrabble hustle to make ends meet. For Black men in particular, there is the effort to steer clear of the local sheriff, lest they be accused, tried and convicted by him of some non-existent crime and thrown onto a chain gang. On the chain gang, Black men work like slaves, especially picking cotton during harvest season, for no pay, for a private employer.
“Honeydripper” is all about such transitions and changes, big and small, in life. Though it, we witness the transition of popular taste, from classic blues acts to an electrified rhythm and blues, and to an expansion of opportunity in a community nearing the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. As he did in “Matewan,” Sayles returns here briefly to the theme of labor, unions and the role played by race as workers attempted to organize. With history writ large and small in the script, with thoughtfully rendered dialogue, as well as moments of humor and magic, “Honeydripper” might remind theatergoers of a play by the late August Wilson.
This film revels in the power of the quiet and still moments in Black lives. It comfortable pace will feel slow to many moviegoers but it does not need to flash violence, sex or any of the usual Hollywood action. So, of course, it has been challenged to find distribution and reach an audience. According to the film’s Web site, it is currently playing in several cities, including New York, Chicago, and is scheduled to open in a batch of cities on Feb. 1, and more still during the coming weeks.
Sayles puts a lot onto the shoulders of the veteran and talented cast. I enjoyed Danny Glover in this role (which includes singing!) more than any other that comes to mind. Charles Dutton, who plays Tyrone’s friend Maceo, is the glue that holds many scenes together and reminds us, when we might forget, of the times in which the characters are living. Hamilton, well-experienced on stage, television and on film, is able to hold in her firm grasp close-up moments of intimacy, tragedy or revelation.
Throughout “Honeydripper,” we never doubt the truth of what we are seeing or what is being told.
The Web site for “Honeydripper” includes a complete schedule of where it is playing and where it will be opening next. There is also video of Danny Glover and Sayles speaking about the film and its distribution.
You can order Esther Iverem's critically praised We Gotta Have It: Twenty Years of Seeing Black at the Movies, 1986-2006 (Thunder’s Mouth Press, April 2007)at Amazon.com or purchase at your favorite bookstore. It makes a wonderful gift! Thanks!
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