A Raisin in the Sun

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source: A Raisin in the Sun

6/10 - a movie based on an award-winning play that just didn't quite capture the true feeling of its source material

I think this movie was one of the best movies I have ever watch because it think is a good representation of how colored people didn't have a lot of opportunities and how they were discriminated just for their skin color in the 1950's. The directors change some scenes from the original play so the viewer can better and fast understand the movie, on the original play the entire play is centered on the younger apartment but in the the film part they show different places in Chicago. Also they change the final part to make it more emotional .

I can't remember enjoying a film so much of recent. I thought "Raisin in the Sun", was superb. The central point in this film is about a man's relationship with himself, thus the opening lines from the poem. Walter Lee Younger is 35 years old, stuck in a rut, feeling like he's never had that opportunity to break out and see what he can do to make his mark in the world. The people in his life, though dearly loved, are holding him back...he feels it, but how do you say to your wife, to your sister living with you, even to the son you are raising that they are the reason you're not getting a chance to live your own life? And when your wife gets pregnant again, and you realize yet another chain is to be added, even if your first instinct would never be for an abortion, when the chance is offered...can you really speak against it? That this film represents a black man's experience at a particular time in a particular place is aside of the point. What is important is how, and if, any man works through that wall, and what kind of man emerges. Not all men who feel that way live in tenements, not all are chauffeurs, but it's an experience a lot of men in the middle and lower classes face. And what makes the film work is that though such bitterness must be repressed, it will leak out, and sour one's relationship with friends and family. In Walter's case, a windfall offers him an out, and he has to balance his own needs against the interests of his family. The acting in this film was very good. I don't know why people are so rough on Sean Combs. I've never seen him in anything, film, music or whatever, being a bit beyond his demographic, but the reality is that he did an excellent job in expressing the constant, simmering anger of a man feeling increasingly trapped in his own life. The Walters of the world don't spend all their time emoting in loud fashion. Rather it slips out, to paraphrase Ruth: she just doesn't know what's the matter, she just knows that it's no longer right. I think Combs is the victim of two things here: first, some folks' initial exposure to Poitier and their consequent nostalgia for his performance, and also a certain degree of snobbery that someone like P Diddy or whatever he calls himself should ever dare aspire to a role of such exceeding difficulty. But for myself, I thought he did really well. Of the three women, Audra McDonald, playing Ruth, was far and away the best. She carried her role beautifully, from her usual quiet steadiness, through her rare emotional breakdown, to her zaniness upon finding that she's to have a real home...she was just great. Phylicia Rashad was also very good, if a little strong, and Beneatha had to play a side role that really didn't get a chance to develop a character. The other male characters were relatively weak...Oleyowe had a great accent, but Stamos was far too obvious in his role, not so much smooth in his covert bigotry but almost smarmy in his overt manner. All in all though, this is a film extremely well worth watching. The writing, as one might expect, is superb, and the acting almost invariably real and true.

I am not a huge fan of remakes, particularly when the original is as iconic as the 1961 A RAISIN IN THE SUN. But this is a worthy effort, particularly considering it was made for television. I think casting Sean Combs as Walter Lee was a mistake; he lacks the intensity that Sidney Poitier exhibited in the original, and in fact at times seems uncertain as to how to play the role. But the producers have buttressed his performance with some heavy duty talent: Phylicia Rashad as Lena, Audra McDonald as Ruth, and Sanaa Lathan as Beneatha. Yet despite all this there is a curious lack of energy to this production. Rashad tries hard, but she does not have the gravitas that Claudia McNeil brought to the role. McDonald tries even harder, but all I can say is she's no Ruby Dee and perhaps the comparison is even a tad bit unfair. As for Lathan, she's the only one with a certain amount of energy, but I found her deliberate imitation of Diana Sands, right down to the way she read some of her lines, irritating and unworthy of an actress whom I suspect is more talented than that and simply chose to cut corners. The sole improvement on the 1961 film is the role of Asagai. Not so much David Oyelowo's performance, though he's fine here, but in the original film the role was severely cut down from the stage version and this production replaces an important speech delivered by the character to Beneatha after the money has been lost. Pity that Ivan Dixon did not get the chance to deliver this speech in the 1961 film. The five stars are mostly for the smooth camera work and a fair effort on the part of the actresses. As remakes go it isn't bad, but when it was over I still was left with the feeling "Why did they bother?"

This film start slowly and at times is a little dull but this is mainly due to the lacklustre performance of Mr Combes, P Diddy, Puffy whatever. Every other performance is superb and this is what carries the film, however as others have already commented, what could have been an excellent film, with someone else in the lead role, becomes just a good film and I would still recommend it for anyone to watch. Combes performance is just not believable, sure he is moody and unlikeable but you get the feeling that he struggles to move away from his real persona and slips too easily back into being a 90s rapper rather than a black man struggling in 1950s America. It might be worth noting that if you hate the modern trend for films to be littered with foul language, sex and violence then you will love this film because it stays true to the original play in this regard and has resisted the mistake many remakes have made of modernising it and alienating the family audience. So for many reasons I would recommend this film and just think it is a shame another, much better lead actor was not chosen for the main male role.

After reading the Lorraine Hansberry play, one would expect this film to be a grand portrayal of a struggling black family in the 1950's. What one gets is a poor adaptation of an amazing play. If Lorraine Hansberry were still alive, she'd kill over taking Sydney Poitier with her. The choice to have P. Diddy in the film in any capacity was a fluke, giving him the lead role was an even greater fluke clearly credited to an aneurysm. He completely overacted the role and made it hard to believe that this was based on Hensberry's play. Let's just face Sean Combs, you're almost as bad at acting as you at dancing. And considering you've been doing the same move since the 90's please stay off my screen. In addition to poorly casting what should've been the moving role of Walter Younger, Kenny Leon then apparently threw the play completely out the window and cast a far too old Sanaa Lathan to play Beneatha. Granted I believe Sanaa Lathan is a fine actress, she was too old to even be considered for the lively optimistic Beneatha. I spent half the movie asking why this grown woman was behaving like a child. The only commendable casting was Phylicia Rashad as Lena and Audra McDonald as Ruth. They were a beauty to watch and the only reason I didn't give this film a 0 rating. Overall I'd only recommend watching this film if you want to see how NOT to perceive this play or if your cable goes out and this movie just so happens to be on your Netflix queue.

This entry of the 2008 TV movie version of Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" that just aired on ABC four days ago, is my final entry on African-Americans in film and television in chronological order for Black History Month. Nearly the entire cast of the recent Broadway revival of this still-resonant drama-Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan, and Bill Nunn-reprise their roles here. They're all great as well as Sean Patric Thomas, David Oyelowo, Paul Stephen, and, as Carl Linder-the man who tries to buy the Youngers out of their new house, John Stamos. Rashad and McDonald, both of whom won Tonys for their performances, should repeat at the Emmys this fall. Combs, usually known as Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy, holds his own with the experienced veterans here. Scenes such as Rashad slapping daughter Lathan after the latter denounces God or Combs doing his "shufflin' Negro" act near the end to everyone's disgust still packs a wallop. And writer Paris Qualles, whose work I just watched on The Rosa Parks Story, and director Kenny Leon open up the play's locations and expand on the dialogue considerably well. What else can I say except it's been a wonderful journey watching how much African-American performers and filmmakers have evolved over the nearly 90 years with nearly 100 listings here at IMDb during this special month. With the writer's strike still in effect at the beginning of it, I thought this was as good a time as any to celebrate some of the most acclaimed and popular celebrities America and the world has ever known. With that, I'll just say thanks for anyone who's read this and my other BHM comments and gave me favorable and even not-so-favorable marks as a result. Oh, and feel free to read and mark my other non-BHM comments as well!