A Lesson Before Dying
by Joseph Sargent
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Brent Jennings, Cicely Tyson, Don Cheadle, Irma P. Hall, Mekhi PhiferDirector: Joseph Sargent
Brand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; Spanish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-01-25
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Movie Reviews of A Lesson Before Dying
Movie Review: Hello! This is an American Masterpiece!
Summary: 5 Stars
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.
"A Lesson Before Dying" has made it to the top of the charts in my film world. Take a look. You won't be disappointed.
Summary of A Lesson Before Dying
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 MooreBased on the New York Times No.1 bestselling novel and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award Don Cheadle and Cicely Tyson star in 'A Lesson Before Dying." Grant Wiggins (Don Cheadle) has become resigned to racial injustice in the south. Returning to his home town with a college degree he continues to teach in the same one-room school of his youth. Struggling to make a difference in an oppressive time and place Grant is called upon by two local women Tante Lou and Miss Emma to visit the town prison. There Jefferson a simple young man has been convicted of a murder he did not commit and sentenced to die like an animal. Jefferson is full of rage and resentment and the women are convinced that somehow he must be taught to die not like an animal but like a man. It falls upon the teacher to enrich a life he cannot save and in so doing somehow redeem his own by teaching one young man "A Lesson Before Dying."Running Time: 101 min.System Requirements:Starring: Don Cheadle Cicely Tyson Mekhi Phifer Irma P. Hall and Brent Jennings. Directed By: Joseph Sargent. Running Time: 101 Min. Color. This film is presented in "Standard" format. Copyright 2000 Warner Home Video.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: PG-13 UPC: 026359157028
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