Down in the Delta (1998) Alfre Woodward, Al Freeman Jr., Mary Alice, Esther Rolle, Loretta Devine, Wesley Snipes, Mpho Koaho, Kulani Hassen, Anne Marie Johnson, Justin Lord. Produced by Rick Rosenberg, Bob Christiansen, Victor McGauley, Wesley Snipes, Reuben Cannon. Co-produced by Terri Farnsworth, Myron Goble, Alfre Woodward. Screenplay by Myron Goble. Directed by Maya Angelou. 114 minutes. Rated PG-13, 3.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo-online.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Edward+Johnson-ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to pbbp24a@prodigy.com
In a crowded Christmas marketplace, it would be easy for a little movie like "Down in the Delta" to get lost in the shuffle. Hopefully, positive reviews and good word-of-mouth will help audiences discover that, despite some flaws, this is a film far more deserving of their attention than material like "You've Got Mail," "Stepmom" and "Patch Adams." Poet Maya Angelou's debut as a feature director is a solid, often moving story about family, love, reconciliation and self-determination. "Down in the Delta" resolutely avoids the clichés that most productions embrace, resulting in one of the only holiday offerings this year that is both heartwarming and genuine.
Loretta (Alfre Woodward) is an unemployed single mother in a Chicago ghetto who uses alcohol and drugs to mute her pain; neglecting her autistic daughter Tracy (Kulani Hassen) and driving her mother, Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice), and son, Thomas (Mpho Koaho) to distraction. Desperate to jolt her daughter out of self-medicated numbness, Rosa Lynn insists that Loretta and the children spend the summer with Uncle Earl (Al Freeman Jr. ) in the family's Mississippi Delta hometown. With great reluctance, Loretta boards the bus with the kids, bound for a three month stay in Hooterville Hell.
Initially, things look as bad as Loretta expected. The rural home is in a dry county. Earl's beloved wife, Annie (Esther Rolle) suffers from Alzheimer's disease and requires constant attention from her husband and Zenia (Loretta Devine), a caregiver who views Loretta with suspicion. To make matters worse, Loretta must drag herself out of bed early each morning to make chicken sausages in Earl's diner.
Things change, of course, but not in typical Hollywood fashion. Loretta doesn't find romance in the bucolic setting. There are no melodramatic outbursts or hokey speeches and, best of all, Myron Goble's script doesn't whip out a terminal illness to tidy things up. Instead, we're presented with well-rounded characters and reasonable plot developments leading to a conclusion that doesn't feel the least bit contrived.
Pure and simple, this is a rich story about the power of family, with a terrific ensemble cast. Mary Alice is forceful as stubborn matriarch Rosa Lynn, young Mpho Koaho gives a remarkably assured performance as Thomas, a child mature beyond his years, and the late Esther Rolle, in her final film appearance, is heart-breaking as a once-vibrant woman turned into a jittery child by Alzheimer's. Wesley Snipes, appearing midway through the film as Earl's son, Will, a successful Atlanta lawyer, does fine work, adding more texture to an already multi-layered story.
Even though Alfre Woodward is the central figure in the tale, Al Freeman Jr. walks away with the film as Earl, a seasoned, sturdy, inherently decent man who earns respect by living his values, rather than pontificating. Our world would operate much better if everyone had an Uncle Earl in their life.
Despite the wealth of vivid characters around her, Alfre Woodward's Loretta remains a bit too sketchy and her journey to self-actualization is overly abrupt. We see her change, but don't really feel it. The addition of a revelatory scene or two would have given her character more resonance.
I suspect the problem lies more with Maya Angelou than Woodward. "Down in the Delta" was originally intended to be a made-for-cable movie and it shows. While the film represents an impressive directorial debut, it is clearly a first-time effort. Too many scenes end with slow fades to white or black, and flashback sequences of a nightmarish family trauma during the Civil War are amateurishly staged and replayed excessively.
Problem areas aside, "Down in the Delta" is a powerful, rewarding experience. It is rare to see a film extol the values of devotion, hard work and dedication without becoming leaden or preachy. Hopefully, audiences will sift through the heavily-advertised holiday trifles and seek out the understated rewards of this small treasure.
© 1998 Ed Johnson-Ott
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