Reviewer's Rating 4 out of 5
To Sleep with Anger (1990)
12

Released in 1990, just before the first wave of groundbreaking African-American gangster movies like "New Jack City", "Straight Out of Brooklyn", and "Boyz N the Hood" hit the screens, Charles Burnett's studied tale of magical realism never found the audience it deserved.

As gangs, guns and drugs took over in new black cinema, Burnett's lyrical story about the clash between the modern world of South Central Los Angeles and the old superstitions of the American Deep South was replaced by a raft of more explosive, but less mature, action-dramas.

Middle-class Gideon (Butler) is a retired man who spends his days tending his chickens while his wife Suzie (Alice) teaches midwifery. Into their cosy little home enters Harry Mention (Glover), an old friend from the South who's on his way to San Francisco. Invited to stay, Harry gets his feet firmly under the table and begins to cast a vague, but potentially deadly, spell over the whole family, setting Gideon's sons against him, insulting their friends and even making Gideon fall ill.

"To Sleep with Anger" is a tantalizing study of the haunting effect of the past on the present, with a fascinating supernatural theme - is Harry a demon from the past or just an irksome troublemaker? It's a showcase performance from Glover as the insidiously seductive Harry and easily the best of his career.

Proof that there was much more to early 90s black cinema than just crime flicks, this reissue will give Burnett a much deserved second chance to work his undeniable magic.

"To Sleep with Anger" is reissued on Friday 28th June 2002.

End Credits

Director: Charles Burnett

Writer: Charles Burnett

Stars: Danny Glover, Paul Butler, Mary Alice, Carl Lumbly, Vonetta McGee

Genre: Drama

Length: 101 minutes

Original: 1990

Cinema: 28 June 2002

Country: USA

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