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Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Binding: VHS Tape EAN: 9780783114552 Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC ISBN: 0783114559 Label: Hbo Home Video Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video Number Of Items: 1 Publisher: Hbo Home Video Release Date: January 11, 2000 Running Time: 105 minutes Sales Rank: 20749 Studio: Hbo Home Video Theatrical Release Date: May 22, 1999
Amazon.com essential video: On a bright sunny day in 1948, Jefferson (Mekhi Phifer) sets off down the road to go catch some fish; by the end of the movie's opening sequence, he is the one who's been caught, and wrongly accused of the murder of a white shopkeeper. Racial inequality, at the time, is so pervasive in Louisiana that the white defense lawyer's argument at Jefferson's trial is that his client is not worthy of conviction: "You might just as soon put a hog in the 'lectric chair as this," he declares. Outraged by this statement, Jefferson's godmother (Irma P. Hall) does not want her godson to die as a hog. To this end she enlists the reluctant aid of the black community's teacher, Grant Wiggins (Don Cheadle), to teach him to "be a man." As Grant and Jefferson get to know each other (and the viewer gets to know them both), it's not clear which of them needs the lesson more. As in Ernest J. Gaines's award-winning novel, the movie goes beyond the conflict between the races to explore divisions that splinter the black community: education versus religion, dark skin versus light. And, thanks to masterful performances from Cheadle and Phifer as well as a thoughtful screenplay by Amy Peacock, A Lesson Before Dying goes even further, examining what it means to be human and the responsibility a man has to himself and to his community. Originally made for HBO, this adaptation of Gaines's novel richly deserves to be seen by a wider audience. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - ok
This movie was ok but i did not like all the foul language in it I will be throwing mine in the trash.
Rating: - Hello! This is an American Masterpiece!
Hello! This is an American Masterpiece! Where are the critics? Where are the Oscars? This is Americana at its very best! At Amazon's current $6.99 it is a steal. Make sure you have some tissue's available. It's a heart warming tear-jerker of a movie.
Old aunt Emma, Jefferson, the feisty preacher, Irma P. Hall,
Mekhi Phifer, Cicely Tyson and the Grant Wiggins characters are never to be repeated performances.
This film has it all, from injustice in Court to Protestant and Catholic prejudices resolved with a polite conversation.
Rating: - "I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man."
From screenplay, to cinematography, and most certainly through the exceptional performances, this superb film is a tearjerker you can feel good about - on many levels.
The movie's most compelling quality is its clear-eyed view of racism in America's deep south. The black people we meet all have distinct personalities complete with problems, strengths, fears, disappointments, and ambitions - just like anybody else. They are people first, black people second. Racism, in all of its cruel and unjust stupidity, does not define them; it is simply the water they swim in, the air they breathe. ... Read More
Rating: - A lesson for us all
A "Lesson Before Dying" is a powerful and passionate film, so beautifully written and so beautifully acted it is one of those rare exceptions where the film adaptation is better than the book. Mehki Phifer gives a powerful performance as Jefferson, a young man sentenced to die for a crime he did not commit. He truly brings honesty and humanity to a young man who is seen by white society as inhuman. And Don Cheadle brings compassionate and dignity to the teacher who must help Jefferson stand tall.
I can't say enough about "A Lesson Before Dying." The injustice committed will anger you, the ... Read More
Rating: - There are more important lessons to be learned than death with dignity
In Louisiana in 1948 a young black man named Jefferson (Mekhi Phifer) makes the fatal mistake of accepting a ride from another pair of young men. When they stop at a local store to get some beer the other men do not have enough money and the white storeowner will not give them credit. Guns are drawn and everybody ends up dead but Jefferson, who is arrested for the crime. Since this is a question of black and white justice in the South before the Civil Rights Movement, Jefferson is condemned to be executed. The fact that he is innocent of the actual killings is not important to this 1999 HBO movie adapted ... Read More
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