IMDb RATING
7.2/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
A charismatic old acquaintance drifts into town, stirring up trouble for a mild-mannered family.A charismatic old acquaintance drifts into town, stirring up trouble for a mild-mannered family.A charismatic old acquaintance drifts into town, stirring up trouble for a mild-mannered family.
- Awards
- 7 wins & 12 nominations
DeVaughn Nixon
- Sunny
- (as Devaughn Walter Nixon)
DeForest Covan
- Fred Jenkins
- (as DeForest Coven)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
- Quotes
Harry: Ya, but you can't do the shuffle with one leg. You and your wife, in fortunate. Now I'm not talking about you and what you do but some folks that always run to help the victim, deep down are attracted to pain and suffering and love to be near the dying.
Junior: All the people working with us are really doing it 'cause they hate to see suffering.
Harry: You never know what's in the heart and just because you can cry doesn't make you human.
- ConnectionsReferenced in Siskel & Ebert: Congo/The Glass Shield/Pocahontas/Fluke (1995)
- SoundtracksPrecious Memories
Traditional, attributed to J.B.F. Wright
Performed by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (as Sister Rosetta Thorpe)
Courtesy of SAVOY Records
Featured review
Everyone's Got Problems
Danny Glover shows up at the door of his old friends and moves in. Over the next few weeks, a lot of stuff happens.
Charles Burnett's movie seems to be a slice of life piece, showing the variety and contradictions of a small Black community, nominally in Los Angeles. There are tough guys and weak guys, but it's a solid working-class community where the choir sings polite gospel, and the preacher comes to visit the visit and chide them for using "old-fashioned" obeah cures instead of prayer.
This isn't the world of rap or youth, but of the older, settled community. In some ways it seems idyllic, with no drug dealers or gang violence, the standard modern cinematic image of Black communities. There's no rap music, but there is the blues and a small boy playing a trumpet very loudly.
It's warm and frequently silly, and beneath it is a had recognition of being unregarded. I found it very familiar, and if the older folks had been speaking Yiddish, i might have been, if not my own home growing up, then a cousin's, or that of one of my father's old friends.
Charles Burnett's movie seems to be a slice of life piece, showing the variety and contradictions of a small Black community, nominally in Los Angeles. There are tough guys and weak guys, but it's a solid working-class community where the choir sings polite gospel, and the preacher comes to visit the visit and chide them for using "old-fashioned" obeah cures instead of prayer.
This isn't the world of rap or youth, but of the older, settled community. In some ways it seems idyllic, with no drug dealers or gang violence, the standard modern cinematic image of Black communities. There's no rap music, but there is the blues and a small boy playing a trumpet very loudly.
It's warm and frequently silly, and beneath it is a had recognition of being unregarded. I found it very familiar, and if the older folks had been speaking Yiddish, i might have been, if not my own home growing up, then a cousin's, or that of one of my father's old friends.
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- boblipton
- Mar 1, 2021
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Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,161,135
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $19,295
- Oct 14, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $1,161,135
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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