Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005) (TV)

Director:

Darnell Martin

Writers (WGA):

Zora Neale Hurston (novel)
Suzan-Lori Parks (teleplay) ...

Release Date:

6 March 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston.

Plot Keywords:

1920s | Small Town | Marriage | Public Humiliation | Black Woman

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 2 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

Halle Berry	...	Janie Starks
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Joe Starks
Michael Ealy	...	Tea Cake
Nicki Micheaux	...	Phoebe Watson
Lorraine Toussaint	...	Pearl Stone
Ruby Dee	...	Nanny
Terrence Howard	...	Amos Hicks (as Terrence Dashon Howard)
Gabriel Casseus	...	Sam Watson
Artel Great	...	Motor Boat (as Artel Kayàru)
Kevin Daniels	...	Liege Moss
Henry Brown	...	Walter Stone
Wayne Duvall	...	Dr. Gordon
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jensen Atwood	...	Johnny Taylor
Ariana Auza	...	Seminole Indian
Aldo Ceceña	...	Seminole Indian Flute Player
Taji Coleman	...	Daisy Blunt
Matthew Dickens	...	Principal Dancer
Ricky Fante	...	Singer
Charles Hailey	...	Man Passing in car
Andre James	...	Field Worker
Veryl Jones	...	Sop De Botton
Sean Nelson	...	Hezekiah
Steven Sebastian Price	...	Brawny Man / Singer
Lisa Ruffin	...	Principal Dancer
Taja V. Simpson	...	Wife of New Family
Lisa Lovelace Squires	...	Nunkie (as Lisa Lovelace)
J.R. Starr	...	Pastor, Thompson
Rhonda Stubbins White	...	Annie Tyler
Mark Anthony Williams	...	Frank Tyler
Raymond T. Williams	...	Gigolo

Also Known As:

Oprah Winfrey Presents Their Eyes Were Watching God (Australia) (DVD box title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Golden Oak Ranch - 19802 Placerita Canyon Road, Newhall, California, USA

Company:

American Broadcasting Company (ABC)

Quotes:

Phoebe Watson: If that Tea Cake ever shows his behind in Eatonville again, he'll wish he hadn't. He knew you had just lost Joe, so he took advantage of you and your money.
Janie Starks: He ain't wasted none of my money. And if he were here, he'd tell everybody so, too.
Phoebe Watson: But he gone, ain't he?
Janie Starks: [Is silent]
Phoebe Watson: He dragged you down to his level, and then....
Janie Starks: Y'all think he did me wrong.
Janie Starks: Janie, we all know he did you wrong!
Janie Starks: Well, I ain't stunned by what they think.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 63rd Annual Golden Globe Awards (2006) (TV)

Awful Movie

I've read the book and seen the movie; the book is better. To do justice to the book, the movie should have been in two parts, the first could have focused on Janie's childhood and youth and her life with Joe Starks and the second could have focused on her life with Tea Cake. I knew I'd have problems with the movie when Oprah introduced the movie by talking about Janie kissing Tea Cake. No movie could include everything in the book, but by leaving out Janie's family history, we don't get a clear idea why Nanny forces Janie to marry Logan Killicks. In the novel, the people in Eatonville are complex and interesting people. In the movie, they are reduced to clichés. Don't any of the work? Sorry, but race is an important part of the book and there should have been a way to include this in the movie. Mrs. Turner and the trial are important parts of the novel; the movie was a Lifetime feature. Halle Berry doesn't have the acting chops to play Janie. She looked the same from beginning to end. Put a little dirt on her and she still looks good. The scenes in the Glades were awful. Unlike, the novel, there was no sense of the people working. The movie gives the impression that these people spend most of their time singing and dancing in camp. Talk about a cliché. In the novel Janie makes a choice to go work with Tea Cake; in the movie it was Halle going slumming. The end of the novel is grabs you; the movie's end was laughable. By the way, I don't think the novel is anti-male or anti-white. Oprah said that Zora Neale Hurston was going to let out a shout. Yes and the shout would be "Orpah you ruined my novel!" Orpah made a movie called "Their Eyes Were Watching Halle." I hope someday, someone will make a real movie of "Their Eyes Were Watching God."