The Wedding (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

Charles Burnett

Writers (WGA):

Dorothy West (novel)
Lisa Jones (teleplay)

Release Date:

22 February 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

One walk will determine her destiny.

Plot Keywords:

Black Woman White Male | Adultery | 1950s | Class Differences | Wedding

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Halle Berry	...	Shelby Coles
Eric Thal	...	Meade Howell
Lynn Whitfield	...	Corinne Coles
Carl Lumbly	...	Lute McNeil
Michael Warren	...	Clark Coles
Marianne Jean-Baptiste	...	Ellen Coles
Shirley Knight	...	Gram (Miss Caroline)
Cynda Williams	...	Liz Odis
Charlayne Woodard
Richard Brooks	...	Lincoln Odis
Gabriel Casseus	...	Hannibal
Patricia Clarkson	...	Della McNeil
Ethel Ayler	...	Eunice
Kelsey Walke	...	Tina McNeil
Peter Francis James	...	Isaac Coles

Also Known As:

Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding

Runtime:

Spain:180 min | UK:135 min (edited version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

UK:PG | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Southport, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Hamdon Entertainment

Quotes:

Meade Howell: I need to talk to you, Shel.
Shelby Coles: No, it's not a good time.
Meade Howell: No, I need to talk to you now. Listen, I thought that music came first, and I was wrong. You come before that. I love you. And I am not going to let you just walk away with no good reason.
Shelby Coles: I think I've given you very good reasons, Meade.
Meade Howell: Why, Shel? Because we can't stay in the same hotel in Georgia? We'll make them let us stay in the same hotel!
Shelby Coles: No, it's because I don't think I want to spend my whole life fighting, defending who we are. Proving to the whole world that we have a right to be together!

Annoyingly self-indulgent...

Overall, I thought this was a self-indulgent, long-winded film. I didn't read the book and was fascinated to read how different it was. Still predictable is the glorification of "poor" and rich or accomplished as somehow suspect. All of these are the same kind of stereotypes as the film attempts to criticize.

There are certainly some good moments but most of the time, I forced myself to watch so I could finally see how it ended. I'm sorry to say, it wasn't worth the wait. The best part of the film is of course the gorgeous Halle Berry, who doesn't have to do much to be spectacular, and the portrayal of upper class black society. That was as much a revelation as Spielberg's film in which we learned the little known fact that slavery was begun in Africa and there were Black free men in the North during slavery--something of which many people are completely unaware.

Additionally, I don't see bias towards interracial marriage here. I see bias against building enough character development to have us care about the people.