A Lesson Before Dying
starring: Don Cheadle, Cicely Tyson, Mekhi Phifer, Irma P. Hall, Brent Jennings
directed by: Joseph Sargent
directed by: Joseph Sargent
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Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Warner Brothers
EAN: 9780783117157
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0783117159
Label: Hbo Home Video
Manufacturer: Hbo Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Hbo Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: January 25, 2000
Running Time: 105 minutes
Sales Rank: 16270
Studio: Hbo Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: May 22, 1999
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
A young man convicted of a murder he did not commit has been sentenced to die. Now it falls upon a teacher to enrich a life he cannont save and in so doing somehow redeem his own by teaching one young man. Studio: Hbo Home Video Release Date: 01/23/2001 Starring: Don Cheadle Mekhi Phifer Run time: 101 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com essential video:
On a bright sunny day in 1948, Jefferson (Mekhi Phifer) sets off down the road to go catch some fish; by the end of the movie's opening sequence, he is the one who's been caught, and wrongly accused of the murder of a white shopkeeper. Racial inequality, at the time, is so pervasive in Louisiana that the white defense lawyer's argument at Jefferson's trial is that his client is not worthy of conviction: 'You might just as soon put a hog in the 'lectric chair as this,' he declares. Outraged by this statement, Jefferson's godmother (Irma P. Hall) does not want her godson to die as a hog. To this end she enlists the reluctant aid of the black community's teacher, Grant Wiggins (Don Cheadle), to teach him to 'be a man.' As Grant and Jefferson get to know each other (and the viewer gets to know them both), it's not clear which of them needs the lesson more. As in Ernest J. Gaines's award-winning novel, the movie goes beyond the conflict between the races to explore divisions that splinter the black community: education versus religion, dark skin versus light. And, thanks to masterful performances from Cheadle and Phifer as well as a thoughtful screenplay by Amy Peacock, A Lesson Before Dying goes even further, examining what it means to be human and the responsibility a man has to himself and to his community. Originally made for HBO, this adaptation of Gaines's novel richly deserves to be seen by a wider audience. --Larisa Lomacky Moore
Average Rating: 
Rating:
- okThis movie was ok but i did not like all the foul language in it I will be throwing mine in the trash. ... Read More
Rating:
- Hello! This is an American Masterpiece!Hello! This is an American Masterpiece! Where are the critics? Where are the Oscars? This is Americana ... Read More
Rating:
- "I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man." From screenplay, to cinematography, and most certainly through the exceptional performances, this superb ... Read More
Rating:
- A lesson for us allA "Lesson Before Dying" is a powerful and passionate film, so beautifully written and so beautifully acted ... Read More
Rating:
- There are more important lessons to be learned than death with dignityIn Louisiana in 1948 a young black man named Jefferson (Mekhi Phifer) makes the fatal mistake of accepting ... Read More
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