Kasi Lemmons Movies

Gini Reticker and Lesli Klainberg direct the 74-minute documentary In the Company of Women, a production of the Independent Film Channel. The film offers an introduction to the major women of independent filmmaking, starting in the 1980s. It includes commentary from directors Allison Anders, Lisa Cholodenko, and Nicole Holofcener. Actresses Patricia Clarkson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Rosie Perez also offer insight and comments. In the Company of Women was shown in a special screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival before making its broadcast premiere on the Independent Film Channel. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) is shocked when her computer technician is murdered--and even more so when it turns out that the dead man was actually a rookie cop, working undercover. Investigating the situation, Jessica forms a strong bond with the late cop's veteran partner. At the same time, the murderer plans to strike again...and this time the target may be the victim's girlfriend. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Made for the TNT cable network, The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson concentrates on the wartime service of major league baseball's first black player. Robinson (Andre Braugher), a star athlete at UCLA, is drafted during World War II. He hopes that his academic record will assure him entry into Officers Candidate School, but the racism inherent in the military at the time puts several roadblocks in his way. After finally making OCS, Robinson's belief in himself is strengthened tenfold--to the point that he refuses to bow to the "Jim Crow" laws regarding the seating arrangements on an Army bus, and is subsequently threatened with a court martial. Stan Shaw costars as boxing great Joe Louis, likewise a victim of prejudice during the war years (the script intimates that Louis was more willing to roll with the punches than Robinson). Ruby Dee, who played the ballplayer's wife in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story, is here seen as Robinson's mother. The Court Martial of Jackie Robinson premiered on October 15, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The Cosby Show's Tempestt Bledsoe is center of attention in this ABC Afterschool Special. Born into a family of gospel singers, teenager Grace (Bledsoe) is the only member of the clan who can't sing a note. Moving in with her cousin Subaya (Kasi Lemmons), Grace pours out her heart -- and her frustration -- by writing a song about her plight. It turns out that she has musical talent after all, though not in a manner that her family (headed by no less than Della Reese) could ever have anticipated. ~ Rovi

Don Cheadle stars as outspoken ex-convict and iconic radio personality Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene in a powerful biopic detailing the life and career of a media figure whose voice instilled the black community with hope during the turbulent 1960s. After talking his way onto the Washington, D.C. airwaves in the era of free love, a man emboldened by the inspirational soul music and rapidly expanding social consciousness that defined the decade openly courts controversy as his put-upon producer, Dewey Hughes (Chiwetel Ejiofor), runs interference. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

A man struggles back from madness to avenge the death of someone he knew in an intelligent thriller based on the acclaimed novel by George Dawes Green. Romulus Ledbetter (Samuel L. Jackson) once had a career as an acclaimed concert pianist, a position at the Juilliard School of Music, and a loving wife and children. But Ledbetter's life has been devastated by paranoid schizophrenia; now homeless, Ledbetter wanders the streets of New York City as he rails against Cornelius Gould Stuyvesant, a man whom he believes controls all the evil in the world while following his movements from a perch atop the Chrysler Building. Most nights, Ledbetter takes shelter in a cave in Central Park, earning him the nickname "the Caveman." One morning, Ledbetter discovers a frozen corpse caught in the branches of a tree near his cave; the body is that of Scotty (Sean MacMahaon), a homeless drug addict who was close friends with his pal Matthew (Rodney Eastman). Ledbetter is determined to get justice for Scotty, and he's also eager to prove himself to his daughter Lulu (Aunjanue Ellis), now a New York City police officer. While Ledbetter is at first convinced that his nemesis Stuyvesant is responsible for Scotty's death, in time he focuses on another suspect: David Leppenraub (Colm Feore), a famous photographer known for his controversial erotic images of young men, who occasionally hired Scotty as a model. As Ledbetter attempts to investigate Leppenraub's possible role in the murder, he soon gains an unexpected ally -- Moira (Ann Magnuson), a noted sculptor and Leppenraub's sister. The Caveman's Valentine marked the major-studio debut for director Kasi Lemmons, who made an impressive debut in 1997 with the independent drama Eve's Bayou. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A young girl learns some difficult lessons about truth, love, and fidelity in this critically-acclaimed Southern gothic drama. Eve Batiste (Jurnee Smollett) is a ten-year-old girl whose father Louis (Samuel L. Jackson) is a successful and well-liked doctor in an African-American community in Louisiana. Louis is a good father and an excellent provider, but he also has a way of attracting the ladies, and he's not inclined to turn them away. One night, the Batistes hold a party, and Eve, her older sister Cisely (Meagan Good), and their mother Roz (Lynn Whitfield) all notice that Louis is spending a great deal of time dancing with the same woman. Eve later spies her father and the woman in an embrace in the carriage house, though Louis unconvincingly claims that nothing untoward was happening. The evidence of Louis' infidelity takes a toll on the entire family: Cisely, who at age 14 is walking the middle-ground between being a girl and a woman, becomes sullen and confused about her new emotions, Roz takes out her frustrations on her loved ones, and Eve visits Elzora (Diahann Carroll), a voodoo priestess, looking for advice and possibly revenge. Meanwhile, Eve's Aunt Mozelle (Debbi Morgan), who claims to have psychic powers, arrives to stay with the family after the death of her third husband, though she isn't lonely for long after meeting the eccentric Julien Greyraven (Vondie Curtis-Hall). Eve's Bayou was the first project as writer-director for actress Kasi Lemmons; leading man Samuel L. Jackson also co-produced. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this politically- and racially-themed satire, Bruford Jackson Jr. (Eriq LaSalle) is an African-American advertising man working for a major agency who has been assigned to campaigns selling Mumblin' Jack Malt Liquor and General Otis' Fried Chicken (complete with the Confederate flag on the bucket) to the black community. Bruford swallows his misgivings and goes along with his employer's wishes for the sake of his high-paying job. One day, Bruford is visited by the D.R.O.P. Squad (D.R.O.P. standing for "Deprogramming and Restoration Of Pride"). The Squad leader, Rocky Seavers (Vondie Curtis-Hall), uses extreme but non-violent psychological methods to teach African-Americans who are helping to destroy their community the error of their ways. However, his partner Garvey (Ving Rhames) has started to wonder if non-violence is really the best way to deal with the enemies of the Black community. Drop Squad was executive produced by Spike Lee, who also makes a cameo appearance endorsing the new "Gospel-Pak" of General Otis' Fried Chicken (complete with bible verses on the napkins). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This riveting, fact-based made-for-cable drama follows the fight of Air Force widow Janet Harduvel to clear the name of her late husband, a pilot who died when his F-16 crashed. The official cause of the mishap was listed as "pilot error," but Harduvel refuses to believe this and so launches her own investigation. She soon discovers that the problem was with the plane itself and that the Air Force is trying very hard to conceal crucial facts. Despite the bureaucracy and obstacles, the determined widow continues fighting until she finds herself facing down a major military contractor, General Dynamics, in court. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Loosely based on the life and times of several R&B artists (The Dells, The Temptations, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others) The Five Heartbeats traces the rise and fall of a popular African-American 1950s singing aggregation. The story is told from the point of view of one of the "Heartbeats," played by Robert Townsend (who also co-produced, directed and co-wrote the script with Keenan Ivory Waynans). The film is an amalgam of anecdotes drawn from real-life experiences: the long struggle upward, the first rush of success, the dishonest record-company executives, the hard-nosed but nurturing managers, the sex, the drugs, the isolation and the precipitous downward slide. The film begins and ends in the 1990s, as the middle-aged "Duck" (Townsend) ruminates on the past and makes the best of the present. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Vampire's Kiss follows the story of yuppie literary agent Peter Loew (Nicolas Cage) as he descends into madness and vampirism. Loew believes he has been bitten by a vampire (Jennifer Beals) and is slowly becoming one himself, despite the contrary opinion of his therapist (Elizabeth Ashley). He then begins to wage a campaign of escalating terror against his secretary and first potential victim, Alva (Maria Conchita Alonso, looking appropriately baffled). Alva begs her parents to let her stay home from work to avoid her unusual boss, but they force her to go on that fateful day, and the plot unfolds. Vampire's Kiss became a cult item on the basis of Cage's outrageous performance: at one point he actually eats a live cockroach. ~ Jeremy Beday, Rovi

This romantic comedy is the first film from two television veterans, writer Winnie Holzman and director Scott Winant. Gwen Moss (Jeanne Tripplehorn) is a writer working on the life story of former child actress Francesca Lanfield (Sarah Jessica Parker), who is recovering from drug addiction. Nick Dawkan (Dylan McDermott) is an architect working on a housing development that will require razing Gwen's beloved vintage apartment. Gwen frequently visits a restaurant designed by Nick, but she never meets him. In the meantime, she is romantically rebuffed by a college professor (Ken Olin), who reveals that he is bisexual. Eventually, Gwen's crusade to save the apartment complex, which is owned by Francesca, attracts the attention of Nick. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi