Clarence Avant Movies
This drama, set in a gritty part of Houston's outskirts, pits brother against brother as the two men try to cope with their childhood family tragedy. Jason and Joshua are opposites. Jason, an ambitious young TV salesman, is the straight arrow. Joshua, an aimless coke-head and frequently jailed petty criminal, is the black sheep. Their father, Maddog was a bitter and maimed Vietnam vet with a penchant for battering his wife, Gloria. To protect herself and her sons from Maddog, she throws him out of the house. In the ensuing fight one of the brothers fatally shoots Maddog. Jason is in love with Lyric, a feisty waitress. As he courts her, his brother Josh plans a bank robbery with his gang. In the end both brothers must face their past and do so in a violent shoot-out. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allen Payne, Jada Pinkett Smith, (more)
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her innermost thoughts in letter form to her sister Nettie (Akousa Busia), but Albert has been hiding the letters Nettie writes back, allowing Celie to assume that Nettie is dead. Finally, Celie finds a champion in the don't-take-no-guff Sofia (Oprah Winfrey), the wife of Glover's son from a previous marriage. Alas, Sofia is "humbled" when she is beaten into submission by angry whites. Later, Celie is able to forge a strong friendship with Albert's mistress Shug (Margaret Avery). Emboldened by this, Celie begins rifling through her husband's belongings and finds Nettie's letters. Able at last to stand up to her husband, Celie leaves him to search for a new life on her own. A major box-office hit, The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Oscars. The film was co-produced by Quincy Jones, who also wrote the score. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, (more)
