ONCE UPON A TIME ... WHEN WE WERE COLORED
A film review by Michael John Legeros
Copyright 1996 Michael John Legeros
(Republic)
Directed by Tim Reid
Written by Paul W. Cooper, based on the novel by Clifton Taulbert
Cast Charles Earl Taylor Jr., Willis Norwood Jr., Damon
Hines, Al Freeman Jr., Richard Roundtree, Phylicia
Rashad, Paula Kelly, Leon, Isaac Hayes, Bernie Casey,
Polly Bergen
MPAA Rating "PG"
Running Time 115 minutes
Reviewed at The Studio, Raleigh, NC (17APR96)
==
Television actor Tim Reid makes his directorial debut in this pleasant, but s-l-o-w story of a black baby born in the cotton fields of 1946 Mississippi. Reid has created a gentle giant of period detail that deserves praise for, among other things, such remarkable restraint. (There's no gratuitous racism or violence, here. Given the potentially incendiary nature of the subject material, I call that an accomplishment.) Some have labeled this film as "sanitized," which I don't agree with. ONCE UPON A TIME... is very real and, unfortunately, very slow. The lack of narrative focus makes for a particularly long sit. Stick with it, though, and the second hour gets (a bit) better. Filmed in North Carolina, from the book by Clifton L. Taulbert, and with the exceptional cast of Al Freeman Jr., Phylicia Rashad, Leon, Paula Kelly, Bernie Casey, Isaac Hayes, Polly Bergen, Taj Mahal, Richard Roundtree, and many others.
Grade: C+
--
Mike Legeros - Raleigh, NC
legeros@nando.net (h) - legeros@unx.sas.com (w)
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