More on Honeydripper.

Honeydripper's "uncommon pleasures derive not from any comprehensively created world but from its cast - mostly African-American veterans of the Broadway stage, of productions of August Wilson plays in particular - and [John] Sayles's graceful way of handling them," writes Jonathan Rosenbaum in the Chicago Reader. "[Danny] Glover's as hard-rock reliable as Spencer Tracy in his prime, [Charles] Dutton's exchanges of sexual innuendo with an appreciative lady friend are delivered with a kind of relish verging on joy, and [Yaya] DaCosta and [Gary] Clark make a cute couple. The music is a pleasure throughout. [Stacy] Keach and Mary Steenburgen turn in juicy performances - in fact, everybody on-screen seems to be enjoying themselves."

Honeydripper's coming to Austin, and if you're there this weekend, Kimberley Jones has details on how you can catch it and a live post-screening show - twice. More Honey in the Austin Chronicle:

• Margaret Moser talks with Gary Clark Jr: "I thought, 'What would I be doing in 1950?' I'm fortunate to be in Austin with the support I have, outlets, and lots of opportunities, but I think this is what I'd have been doing 50 years ago, kicked out of the Army, hungry, looking for a gig. So I tried to draw on that struggle. There's more of a struggle for Sonny than me."

• Austin Powell: "What's appealing about this soundtrack is that nothing would sound out of place screeching at 45 rpm."

• "Honeydripper is a joyous film, not a tragic one," writes editor Louis Black. "It is much more a celebration of redemption than a depiction of oppression. As with all Sayles' films, it is about people and their lives – but here that's set against the spontaneous, 'just grew' spread of the people's music, 'and they called it rock & roll!'"

"John Sayles has made 19 films, and none of them are two-character studies," writes Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times. "As the writer of his own work, he instinctively embraces the communities in which they take place. He's never met a man who was an island. Everyone connects, and when that includes black and white, rich and poor, young and old, there are lessons to be learned, and his generosity to his characters overflows into affection."

Peter Sobczynski interviews Sayles for Hollywood Bitchslap.

Earlier: "Interview. John Sayles."

Posted by dwhudson at January 18, 2008 9:01 AM