jcbinok
Seeing page after page of 10 star reviews of Eve's Bayou, I felt compelled to add my $.02. Just watched this film last night, and generally thought is was very good. The filmmakers stuck with and developed the characters well. The opening party scene was a bit of a mish-mash of faces, so it took a while to suss out who was who, but as the film went on, that got worked out.Before writing a few criticisms, let me say that one thing I liked about the film was that it refrained from becoming a 'white/bad, black/good' story. In fact, I don't recall a single white face throughout, nor any dialog about race relations. That was refreshing.Now, what I didn't like. First: what the heck was with the wardrobes and make-up? Not only during the original party scene, but throughout the entire movie, the women are dressed up like they're going to a photo shoot or prom. Totally unrealistic/overly glam. Next: the hokiness of some of the dialog. After the family tragedy, for example, rather than hug Eve and let her cry, Aunt Mozel relates some abstract dream she just had. Ugh. The kid's 10, she just lost her father, and you're telling parables?Finally: I hated the ending. The father's letter reveals that he may have been innocent of his older daughter's accusation that he made a sexual advance toward her. When confronted by Eve, the best the older daughter can come up with is, "I can't remember." Are you kidding me? The sisters then dunk the father's letter in the swamp, forever to be unseen by its intended recipient, Mozel.Overall, good movie. Perfect? no.
billcr12
Kasi Lemmons wrote and directed "Eve's Bayou," with such precision that I'm astounded that she hasn't had anything as good since this feature. Orson Welles is still famous for "Citizen Kane" after which he never reached such heights again.Samuel L. Jackson is a doctor who has a monogamy problem, constantly cheating on his wife, played by Lynn Whitfield. They have two daughters, Eve of the title, Jurnee Smollett is awesome as the lead character of this story and her sister Cisely(Meagan Good) is also a charming child actress. The two worship their father but they eventually discover his shortcomings as a husband.The two young sisters steal this film, an absorbing, tragic family drama of Shakespearean proportions. Lemmons has created a memorable classic.
RaiderJack
Having been a TOTAL fan of Lynn Whitfield and Debbi Morgan for YEARS, I KNEW I would be in for a treat. This overlooked film is indeed a wonder and in time will place among one of the finest movies ever made. It is multi-layered and deals with some extremely sensitive issues all the while painting a beautiful tapestry of African-American life in the Louisianna bayou. For those of you who have not seen it, it deals with the awakening of a father and his daughters one summer and the emotions that accompany this learning. The young Eve is brilliantly played by Smollett and Debbi Morgan gives a knockout performance that you crave to see over and over again. Diahann Carroll works you because her character is not at all glamorous but pivotal to the plot as Eve comes to realize the responsibility of her "gift" and learns the truth of the age-old adage, "Be careful what you wish for, for you just might get it." Samuel L. Jackson is wonderful as usual and perfectly cast. While his character is not necessarily sympathetic, he is totally understandable and for a little girl who worships her father he is perfectly cast. While some aspects of the father-daughter relationship may be somewhat uncomfortable, the director does a beautiful job bringing the complexity of these issues to the screen and I heartily applaud her. This is one that belongs in any movie collection and one where African-American life is celebrated and treated with the utmost respect and honesty. Hats off to a wonderful production!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thesewintersundays
Writer/director Kasi Lemmons and her outstanding cast have outdone themselves in the sublime "Eve's Bayou." "Eve's Bayou" is fleet but not in a hurry. The scenes are clear and lean against the richness of the setting, but they flow leisurely toward the climax, like a punt bearing two lovers languidly downstream."Eve's Bayou" is such a great story, partly because Lemmons herself is a master storyteller who is particularly gifted at strong endings, partly because the splendid cast embodies the characters so fully that the events actually seem to be happening to them, instead of unfolding from a screenplay.What a beautiful film it is: Not an overdecorated "period" portrait, but a film in which the people move easily through town and country homes and landscapes which frame and define them.
AD
