Honeydripper (2007)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

John Sayles

Writer (WGA):

John Sayles (written by)

Release Date:

9 May 2008 (UK)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner...

Plot Keywords:

Alabama | 1950s | One Word Title

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Danny Glover	...	Tyrone Purvis
Lisa Gay Hamilton	...	Delilah
Yaya DaCosta	...	China Doll
Charles S. Dutton	...	Maceo
Vondie Curtis-Hall	...	Slick
Gary Clark Jr.	...	Sonny
Mable John	...	Bertha Mae
Stacy Keach	...	Sheriff
Nagee Clay	...	Scratch
Absalom Adams	...	Lonnie
Arthur Lee Williams	...	Metalmouth Sims
Ruben Santiago-Hudson	...	Stokely
Davenia McFadden	...	Nadine
Daryl Edwards	...	Shack Thomas
Sean Patrick Thomas	...	Dex

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief violence and some suggestive material.

Runtime:

124 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Canada:PG | Ireland:PG | Finland:K-11

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

Anarchist's Convention Films

Trivia:

The principal shooting location was less than 50 yards from Hank Williams's boyhood home.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2008-01-05)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

You Got to Choose

pivot between eras

John Sayles, never one to avoid a political focus in movies, now brings us "Honeydripper". The movie is set in 1950 Alabama. The Jim Crow laws are still in effect, and black-white relations are limited to African-Americans performing only the most menial jobs: a number of people work in a cotton field for practically nothing (slavery has risen again!). Tyrone "Pinetop" Purvis (Danny Glover) owns a restaurant and often has singers come and play. Business hasn't been doing too well recently. Pinetop has worked hard his whole life and barely gotten by...but the possible arrival of a New Orleans singer might change things.

Aside from the great music, one can also see this movie as a look at the pivot era in the South. It's set during the Jim Crow era, around the start of the Korean War, just a few years away from the civil rights movement. One notices that even though this is still the age of institutionalized racism, many of the characters do what they can to try and have civil relationships with white people: Sheriff Pugh (Stacy Keach) is on pretty good terms with Pinetop, and Pinetop's wife Delilah (Lisa Gay Hamilton) manages to carry on a conversation with her employer (Mary Steenburgen). The music, of course, is really the best part. I certainly recommend this movie, as I have recommended every John Sayles movie that I've seen.

Also starring Yaya DaCosta, Charles S. Dutton, Vondie Curtis Hall, Keb' Mo', Kel Mitchell and Gary Clark Jr. I think that I saw John Sayles in a bit part.