IMDb > Our Song (2000)
Photos (see all 6 | slideshow) Videos
Our Song (2000) -- Focusing on the bonding between three female (an African American female, a half African American half Latino American female, and a Latino American female) high school members of Brooklyn's "Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band" and the choices the gir

Overview

User Rating:
6.8/10   404 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 3% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Jim McKay
Writer:
Jim McKay (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Our Song on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
18 April 2001 (France) more
Genre:
Drama more
Plot:
Focusing on the bonding between three female (an African American female, a half African American half Latino American female, and a Latino American female) high school members of Brooklyn's "Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band" and the choices the girls face once their school closes down because of the need for asbestos removal. This film is about a host of topics, not least of which is the hard-work involved in maintaining friendships. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
1 win & 6 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(6 articles)
Death Cab For Cutie On The 'Shirtless Dudes' In 'New Moon'
 (From MTV Movie News. 18 November 2009, 2:37 AM, PST)
Celebrity Biography: Taylor Swift
 (From PopStar. 12 November 2009, 10:34 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Naturalism Has Come to the States more (14 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Melissa Martinez ... Maria Hernandez

Anna Simpson ... Joycelyn Clifton

Kerry Washington ... Lanisha Brown
The Jackie Robinson Steppers Marching Band ... Themselves

Marlene Forte ... Pilar Brown
Raymond Anthony Thomas ... Carl Brown (as Ray Anthony Thomas)

Rosalyn Coleman ... Dawn Clifton

Carmen López ... Rita Hernandez (as Carmen Lopez)
Tyrone Brown ... Mr. Miller
Lorraine Berry ... Kim
Natasha Frith ... Keisha

Chuck Cooper ... Benjamin
Iris Little Thomas ... Clinic Counselor

Kim Howard ... Eleanor
Juan Romero Jr. ... Samson
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for language and some teen drug use.
Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parents
Runtime:
95 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English | Spanish
Color:
Color
Certification:
France:U | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:R
Company:
Beech Hill Films more

Fun Stuff

Movie Connections:
References Dangerous Minds (1995) more
Soundtrack:
Sun Has Set more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.

User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
1 out of 1 people found the following comment useful.
Naturalism Has Come to the States, 14 August 2001
Author: bluesdoctor from A Place is Just A Place

This is the first American film to successfully adopt the naturalistic style used by Europeans, particularly the French and Belgians, for at least a decade, and isn't it about time? Following three high school girls in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn during the last days of their summer break between freshman and sophomore years, it does what all good art should: it discovers the universal in the particular. Even though the girls' preoccupations are outwardly conventional--boys, sex, popularity, money, freedom, and clothes--we glimpse how their whole lives are being shaped, the universal interface between character and destiny.

The naturalism is whole, complete. The film breathes, stays in the moment, inhabits real time. The story tells itself. The medium and its artifacts, for once, are not the message. The film unwaveringly, truthfully conveys the childhood perspective of its characters; it does not impose its own adult meanings or morals. Details emerge of their own, are never pushed, and thus seem all the more real and powerful for their understatement. Even though great pains have been taken to capture the authentic social reality of Crown Heights, part of the largest Black ghetto in New York City and one of the most dangerous violent places in the US, the subject is childhood in the ghetto, not the ghetto itself.

Documentary footage of the practice sessions of a marching band, the Jackie Robinson Steppers, punctuate the film at regular intervals with an explosion of color, movement, and sound. Otherwise, the camera stays very close, very intimate, a patient, sly, and unobtrusive observer. The language is rich, spontaneous, the acting transparent. Some scenes standout, such as the girls lolling about, each revealing her deepest fantasies. Lanisha's confession of her acceptance of a death by random violence is the most shocking, one of the deepest scars of the ghetto. Her sharing with her mother her confusion and fear before the stark challenges of adult life is equally moving, and beautifully, unsentimentally affirmative.

Social realities are respected, not propagandized: All three girls are being raised by single moms, only one, Lanisha, has a father active in her life (and, not coincidentally, of the three she is the most emotionally stable and empathetic to others, and the one with the most self-respect). Two of them suffer from asthma, a disease disproportionately prevalent in the inner city. Gunfire, an accepted daily occurrence, only momentarily interrupts their conversation. Only one of the girls, Joy, feels hope for, feels she has control over the future, while the other two to varying degrees have already accepted despair.

This is by far the best dramatic American film I've seen in years. See it, see it, see it.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (14 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Our Song (2000)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Coming On Again? TiaraRubyah
does anyone else agree with me? sweetz4u663
bittersweet movie every teen in the hood should see coolcleangreen
Melissa Martinez tamla2003
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Nowhere O Half Nelson Do the Right Thing The Chumscrubber
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Drama section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.