Truly Dreadful Film

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

I think the movie was pretty good. The actors were great. They knew what was happening. The book and the movie are very similar. Some scenes are added or some don't show up. For example in the movie it gives more details than the book. It shows more and in the book it mostly takes place in the Younger's apartment. In the movie the setting is not just in the apartment. The ending in the book is different from the ending in the movie but besides that I liked the movie/book.

After reading the Lorraine Hansberry play, one would expect this film to be a grand portrayal of a struggling black family in the 1950's. What one gets is a poor adaptation of an amazing play. If Lorraine Hansberry were still alive, she'd kill over taking Sydney Poitier with her. The choice to have P. Diddy in the film in any capacity was a fluke, giving him the lead role was an even greater fluke clearly credited to an aneurysm. He completely overacted the role and made it hard to believe that this was based on Hensberry's play. Let's just face Sean Combs, you're almost as bad at acting as you at dancing. And considering you've been doing the same move since the 90's please stay off my screen. In addition to poorly casting what should've been the moving role of Walter Younger, Kenny Leon then apparently threw the play completely out the window and cast a far too old Sanaa Lathan to play Beneatha. Granted I believe Sanaa Lathan is a fine actress, she was too old to even be considered for the lively optimistic Beneatha. I spent half the movie asking why this grown woman was behaving like a child. The only commendable casting was Phylicia Rashad as Lena and Audra McDonald as Ruth. They were a beauty to watch and the only reason I didn't give this film a 0 rating. Overall I'd only recommend watching this film if you want to see how NOT to perceive this play or if your cable goes out and this movie just so happens to be on your Netflix queue.

I would have given it 10 stars but Diddy Combs couldn't act opposite the other actors cast in the movie. He was just out of his league. The rest of the cast was great. He should of played a lesser role and cast someone else with an acting background to play Walter. Walters character was too complex for his skill set. He tried too hard and doesn't know how to bring out his emotion naturally, he tries to push it out. Overall the movie is a great movie. The women in the movie just smoothly flow as though they are not acting but really lived in that time period. The facial expression of the women and the body language during the scenes speak volumes and the words they speak just add to the depth of their characters. Diddy does have some great flashed of acting such as when he tells his family he is going to take the money from the white man and they should move. The next scene with Ms Rashad and Ms Lathan where she tells Ms. Lathan not to judge Walter so harshly is mind blowing. The movie sets where great, the costumes were great and the writing was great. John Stamos was his usual good performance. I do wish the African would have had more scenes he also didn't seem like he was acting or playing a character and you forget you are watching a movie and think you are looking at real life. If this movie doesn't evoke many emotions within you, it is not the movie but you are emotionally constipated because it is very deep and makes you think. You leave changed after watching this movie.

This entry of the 2008 TV movie version of Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" that just aired on ABC four days ago, is my final entry on African-Americans in film and television in chronological order for Black History Month. Nearly the entire cast of the recent Broadway revival of this still-resonant drama-Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan, and Bill Nunn-reprise their roles here. They're all great as well as Sean Patric Thomas, David Oyelowo, Paul Stephen, and, as Carl Linder-the man who tries to buy the Youngers out of their new house, John Stamos. Rashad and McDonald, both of whom won Tonys for their performances, should repeat at the Emmys this fall. Combs, usually known as Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy, holds his own with the experienced veterans here. Scenes such as Rashad slapping daughter Lathan after the latter denounces God or Combs doing his "shufflin' Negro" act near the end to everyone's disgust still packs a wallop. And writer Paris Qualles, whose work I just watched on The Rosa Parks Story, and director Kenny Leon open up the play's locations and expand on the dialogue considerably well. What else can I say except it's been a wonderful journey watching how much African-American performers and filmmakers have evolved over the nearly 90 years with nearly 100 listings here at IMDb during this special month. With the writer's strike still in effect at the beginning of it, I thought this was as good a time as any to celebrate some of the most acclaimed and popular celebrities America and the world has ever known. With that, I'll just say thanks for anyone who's read this and my other BHM comments and gave me favorable and even not-so-favorable marks as a result. Oh, and feel free to read and mark my other non-BHM comments as well!