Raisin in the Sun / The Great Debaters

Reviewer: James van Maanen

A Raisin In The Sun: Rating (out of 5): **½

The Great Debaters: Rating (out of 5): ****

The recently filmed (for cable-TV) version of the famous Lorraine Hansberry play A Raisin In The Sun and last year's "Oscar Bait," Denzel Washington-helmed The Great Debaters were released to video on the same day. After watching both within hours of each other, a comparison seems in order. The former was generally greeted well by critics (and the public: the Broadway version was a rare "hot ticket" for a non-musical play, due no doubt to the casting of a certain Mr. Diddy). The latter, however, was given a shrug of indifference by the public and by quite a few critics. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that movie-goers missed out on something wonderful.

The Hansberry play is a warhorse, no doubt about that, but it's a serviceable one, offering an important look at a pivotal time in American history and culture when Blacks were beginning to integrate. The late author wrote bold characterizations, providing meaty roles for actors, and she knew how to combine themes and events into her bubbling plot and bring it all to a boil. She was not particularly subtle, however, and if you can't spot what's coming from a mile away, you're probably new to the drama game. This is particularly the case as concerns the character of Walter Lee and the dramatic arc regarding the insurance money.

In the original filmed version of the play, Claudia McNeil and Sidney Poitier essayed the roles of Mama and Walter Lee. Almost 20 years ago Esther Rolle and Danny Glover started in another TV adaptation. This time out, as directed (and "opened up") by Kenny Leon and adapted by Paris Qualles, Phylicia Rashad and Sean "Puffy" Combs take over these roles, with some major assistance from Audra MacDonald and Saana Lathan as, respectively, Walter Lee's wife and sister. Lathan is gorgeous and sassy, MacDonald stoic and resisting, and Rashad strong and supportive (of everyone). A novice at acting, Combs acquits himself well enough that, though he does not sink this endeavor, neither does he bring much variety or specificity to his role. He gets through it, however, and so allows us to continue to appreciate Hansberry's work.

We do appreciate it, I think, because of its importance to theatre history and Black history. But it is not a great play. After watching this version, I went back to the beginning and fast forwarded at random. Almost anywhere I stopped and began to listen, I heard one character or another involved in what I call "speechifying": preaching his or her view to the character opposite. This is great way to make your point, but it is not particularly lifelike. Or even believable. And there is a lot of this going on in A Raisin in the Sun. One of Hansberry's great strengths was that she could understand each of her characters needs and desires, and from a number of perspectives, good and bad. This gives her play breadth and depth, but she never quite learned how to write dialog that bursts forth generically and spontaneously, rather than from some need to "speechify."

***

If there was ever a time for good "speechifying," it's during a debate, something the filmmakers of The Great Debaters have realized--beautifully, joyously--in both conception and execution. I find it unusual that a movie bearing all the hallmarks of another "Oh, god--this looks like one of those do-gooder, feel-good experiences" turns out to be just that--and then, against all odds, actually works. Great Debaters does good by re-acquainting audiences with the early civil rights struggles of southern African Americans (as well as the struggles of tenant farmers, white and black). And it makes us feel, not just "good" but roused, invigorated, re-aware of possibilities that, after this past eight years, may have seemed dead--or certainly out of reach. This is an enormous achievement.

As director, Denzel Washington brings to fruition the promise of his earlier Antwone Fisher, this time tackling themes from a more distant era and wrapping them around a wonderful "true" story that offers some of the best speechifying I have heard in years. If you've ever been a debater or enjoyed listening to debates (I was one, briefly, in junior high), you'll be riveted by what you see and hear, for Washington and his writer Robert Eisele have gathered some marvelous material together involving the need for civil rights, integration in the schools, and other topics and woven it all into a tale of the first great black debating team, the individuals on that team, and the debates themselves. The result is, if not seamless, so propulsive and interesting that this more-than-two-hour movie actually seems short.

The filmmakers have chosen their events--from a lynching to a love scene--with care and consideration so that what we see becomes a mirror of what we hear in the debates. Speech and actions build on each other to create something moving and urgent, and only rarely do things veer toward the melodramatic before coming back on track. The characters of the young debaters are drawn with agility and grace; we know them and, despite (sometimes because of) their flaws, we like them. (One important point that the movie leaves out, or at least skirts, is the fact that a debater must be able to debate equally well the pros and the cons of the same topic; rather, it allows its heroes to debate only the correct, the "good," side. The one time a character is shown on the opposite side, he cannot rise to the occasion and the movie cuts away before we hear him speak.) Performances are fine down the line, which was true of Antwone Fisher, too. Washington, more than Clint Eastwood, seems able to simultaneously act and direct with command and ease.

I am saddened by the film's commercial failure--even with heavy-hitters like Washington, Joe Roth and Oprah Winfrey producing and then plugging it. Perhaps a better title would have helped. "The Great Debaters" is apt enough, but, I don't know: Would something like Speechifyin' Jim (the youngest team member turns out to be CORE's James Farmer) have worked better? How do we get the black audience--hell, the white one, too--who shows up for schlock action movies to support something as terrific as this? The person who provides the answer should become our next Selznick or Spielberg. One thing more: Compare the speeches made in this film, both pro and con on each issue, with the kind of pablum America was served during the recent Presidential "debates." It’s enough to make you question the very idea that progress has been achieved during the intervening decades. Even with the internet, microwaves and DVD players: where the hell are we?

If the film wins you over, as I bet it will, don't miss the Special Feature in which some of the original, still-living debaters talk about their history and their much-loved and respected teacher Melvin B. Tolson (the character played by Washington). Just one of a host of worthy extras on The Great Debaters film and bonus discs.