Loretta Devine Movies

This made-for-TV movie focuses on the grassroots efforts of a Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) to combat the entrenched racism of the segregated South. The film focuses on Owen Walker (Vicellus Reon Shannon), a youth who longs to address the injustices of his hometown in rural Mississippi. His father Will (Danny Glover) forswore his own previous attempts to organize local blacks. Owen resents his father, until he too realizes the true cost of protesting. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Patrik-Ian Polk directs this ensemble film about a quartet of gay African-American men looking for love in all the wrong places. The film opens with a quartet of friends hanging out by the pool with cocktails discussing who would be better in bed, Ricky Martin or Busta Rhymes. Outside of their overheated imaginations, though, the four are not seeing much action. During his 30th birthday party, Hill (Dwight Ewell) discovered his French beau getting a little fresh with a guest, causing their long term relationship to split. Marcus (Seth Gilliam), a closet romantic longing for Mr. Right, has a habit of scaring off one-night stands with his AIDS paranoia. Drag queen Chris (Jazzmun) talks constantly about a boyfriend no one has ever met, and rich Latino kid Dante (Renoly Santiago) is merrily promiscuous. As the film progresses, Hill, who moves in with Marcus, secretly revels in the prospect of single life. At the same time, Marcus lusts for hunky music producer Darby (Rockmond Dunbar) who moves in next door, though he has a live-in girlfriend (Vanessa Williams). The enormity of Chris' ego breaks up his lip-synched drag revue of Sister Sledge hits. This film was screened at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and features a soundtrack by Babyface and Janet Jackson. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Poet Maya Angelou made her feature directorial debut with this African-American family drama, shown theatrically but originally produced for the Showtime cable network. Unemployed single mother Loretta (Alfre Woodward) lives with her mother, Rosa Lynn (Mary Alice), in a Chicago apartment. Drugs and alcohol lead Loretta to neglect her autistic daughter, Tracy (Kulani Hassen). Her teen son Thomas (Mpho Koaho) brings in money by photographing tourists. Rosa Lynn pawns a family heirloom in order to send Loretta and the kids off to their Mississippi Delta hometown where Loretta's Uncle Earl (Al Freeman Jr.) runs his diner. Earl lives in a dry county, so Loretta is reluctant. However, she has no choice after Rosa Lynn threatens to contact child-welfare authorities if she doesn't go. Earl takes in the trio even though he already has enough problems with Annie (Esther Rolle), an Alzheimer's victim under the supervision of caregiver Zenia (Loretta Devine). Toronto locations substitute for Mississippi. Shown at the 1998 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Australian director Jamie Blanks helmed this teen horror film set at Pendleton University. Campus legend has it that 25 years earlier Pendleton was the site of a mass murder by a demented abnormal psych instructor who killed six students and then himself. However, no proof of the prof's deed remains. Urban legends are the subject of a course in American folklore taught by Professor Wexler (Robert Englund). When a series of bizarre deaths occur on the campus, assertive student Natalie thinks they are murders based on urban legends, but classmates Brenda (Rebecca Gayheart), ambitious journalism major Paul (Jared Leto), and practical joker Damon (Joshua Jackson) claim it's just a coincidence. Then Natalie begins to realize that she's the next victim. Since Joshua Jackson is a co-lead on TV's Dawson's Creek, an inside joke surfaces when a radio plays a bit of the Dawson's Creek theme (Paula Cole's I Don't Want to Wait). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Four 20-somethings try to unravel the tangled mess of their love lives in this modern romantic drama. Larry (Leon) runs a nightclub, but he would rather be onstage singing than booking the talent. Larry used to be involved with his friend Renee (P. Pauley), an aspiring poet, but lately he's become infatuated with Annette (Nicole Eggert), who also works at the club. Meanwhile, Billy (Jon Seda) has fallen in love with Renee, unaware that she still carries a torch for Larry (or even that they were ever involved). With so much romantic confusion, nearly everyone can use all the advice they can get, and neighborhood spiritualist Jackee (Loretta Devine) and street singer Ben (Lou Rawls) try to pass along what wisdom they have to spare. The Price of Kissing was the first dramatic feature film for writer and director Vince Di Persio, whose previous background was in documentaries and television films. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This independent drama takes an unexpectedly light and emotionally sensitive approach to a potentially controversial subject -- a teenager taking up a career as a prostitute. Sixteen-year-old Jake (Tara Subkoff) is a pretty but troubled girl who has been abandoned by her mother. Needing a place to stay, she shows up on the doorstep of her sister Darlene (Kristy Swanson) and begs her to take her in. Darlene refuses, and Jake is left with nowhere to go. Marci (Sandra Bernhard), Darlene's next door neighbor, takes pity on Jake and gives her a meal and a place to stay for the night. The next morning, Marci heads off for work and Jake tags along to discover that Marci manages a massage parlor. Jake is a bit naive about what goes on at such places, but after meeting Marci's charges -- Bambi (Sahara Lotti), Coco (Loretta Devine), and Teddy (Renee Humphrey) -- she catches on that the women are offering their male clientele more than a simple rubdown. Needing money, Jake asks Marci for a job; Marci says no, since Jake is underage, but after much begging and pleading, Marci agrees under the condition that Jake make herself scarce when Jean (Susan Barnes), the owner, comes around. Jake becomes friendly with Bambi, Coco, and Teddy, who show her the ropes of her new "career" and let her stay at their communal apartment. Soon Jake is making a good living, and Darlene is impressed enough to get a job of her own at the parlor. However, Darlene doesn't get along with the other women any better than she does with Jake, and when Jake's friends get on Darlene's bad side, she turns Jake in for working underage, which leaves everyone out in the cold. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Originally an episode of the Touched by an Angel spinoff Promised Land, this is the conclusion of a two-part story begun on Angel (and as such is included in the current Angel syndication package. Having been chosen to act as the "eyes" for temporarily inded angel Monica (Roma Downey), young Joshua Greene (Austin O'Brien) is himself rendered sightless in a drive-by shooting. Dr. Serena Hall (Lynn Whitfield) holds Michael Burns (George Newbern), the man who brought Joshua to the inner-city Denver neighborhood where the shooting occurred, responsible for the tragedy, but both Monica and friendly beauty-shop owner Queenie (Jenifer Lewis) do their best to alleviate Michael's guilt feelings. Meanwhile, Joshua's dad Russell (Promised Land star Gerald McRaney) rallies the neighborhood to take a strong stand against gang violence. Evidently, this episode was intended as the pilot for a new series starring George Newbern, which never got off the ground; however, the Denver-ghetto setting would be utilized again during Promised Land's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this first episode of a two-part story, Tess (Della Reese) pays a visit to the Greene family, the protagonists of the Touched by an Angel spinoff series Promised Land. She informs Joshua Greene (Austin O'Brien) that God has reserved a special purpose for him, specifically act as the "eyes" for the temporarily blinded Monica during her next assignment. Hitching a ride with one Michael Burns (George Newbern), Joshua and Monica end up in a rundown Denver neighborhood, where Michael's grandfather runs an inner-city mall. Here the travellers befriend lunch-counter owner Mary Harding (Esther Rolle) and her grandchildren Calvin (Sean Nelson) and Chanice (Myriah Darden), and also beauty salon proprietor Queenie (Jenifer Lewis). Unfortunately, the neighborhood is rife with tension over a dangerous band of "taggers" who have covered the walls with gang graffiti--and just before the episode ends, tragedy strikes one of the principal characters. Though the concluding half of this story originally aired as an episode of Promised Land, it is currently included in the Touched by an Angel syndication package. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A surprise Hollywood hit, this film is based on the novel of the same name by Terry McMillan and centers on four well-to-do African-American women and their relationships with men and one another. All of them are "holding their breath" until the day they can feel comfortable in a committed relationship with a man. Robin (Lela Rochon) is the long-time mistress of Russell (Leon), who keeps reneging on his promise to leave his wife for her. She dumps him to find a man she can have to herself, but her dates with a reliable but unattractive business partner (Wendell Pierce) and a drug addict (Mykelti Williamson) send her back to Russell. Savannah (Whitney Houston) is a successful television producer who also believes that her married lover Kenneth (Dennis Haysbert) will leave his wife. Bernadine (Angela Bassett) is a wealthy woman who abandoned her own career to raise a family. Her husband is now leaving her to marry a white woman. Gloria (Loretta Devine) is a beauty salon owner and single mother raising a teenage son. After years alone, she falls in love with a new neighbor, Marvin (Gregory Hines). The women share their stories over lunches and conversations at Gloria's salon. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

When African-American professional Andrew Sterling (Samual L. Jackson) moves into a summer home on an up-tight all-white New England resort island, the snoopy white neighbors are sure he must be breaking and entering. They call the cops who get too rambunctious and break into Sterling's limo, tripping its security alarm. When Sterling shows up to stop the alarm and pulls out his keys to open the car, a skittish cop thinks he's pulling a gun and opens fire. Now things are really a mess, because not only have these cops screwed up big-time, they've screwed up big-time in an election year when their Police Chief (Dabney Coleman) just happens to be running for re-election. This mess-up smacks too much as a race-inspired melee, so Chief Tolliver arranges a cover-up to keep his reputation intact. He hires a drifter to pose as a thief so the cops will have a legitimate reason for "protecting" the vacationing Sterling. Things continue to complicate in this airbrush farce, that attempts to lighten with laughter, the delicate and combustible subject of American race relations. ~ All Movie Guide

Because of her thieving new husband, a young woman is thrown into jail where she is harassed by fellow prisoners and by the warden. Before long, hubby gets a chance to take on the identity of a guard so he can help her escape. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

Kid N' Play (Christopher Reid and Christopher Martin) star in this role-reversal comedy that plays like a badly done sitcom without the laughs. The switcheroo occurs when two inner-city high school students -- one a straight-A whiz-kid and the other an angry criminal type -- have to switch identities and are forced to live each other's lives. Christopher Reid is Duncan Pinderhughes, a student with perfect grades but who can't graduate high school unless he passes gym. Christopher Martin plays Blade Brown, whose probation officer gives him an ultimatum -- graduate high school or go to jail. Due to a mix-up in their high school records, Pinderhughes and Brown are forced to take over each other's lives. Brown ends up in a class for gifted students, and Pinderhughes finds himself skulking behind the school building to a shotgun shack that houses all the high school's troublemakers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide