Native Son (1986)
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56% of critics liked it
(9 reviews) -
54% of users liked it
(128 ratings)
Previously filmed in Argentina in 1951, black author Richard Wright's powerful race-conscious novel Native Son was remade in this barely released 1986 version. The story involves Bigger Thomas (Victor Love), an angry Depression-era Chicago black who hopes to elevate himself through his… More Previously filmed in Argentina in 1951, black author Richard Wright's powerful race-conscious novel Native Son was remade in this barely released 1986 version. The story involves Bigger Thomas (Victor Love), an angry Depression-era Chicago black who hopes to elevate himself through his chauffeur's job with a prosperous white Gold Coast family. The family's daughter (Elizabeth McGovern) takes advantage of Bigger's servile status by ordering him to drive her to a rendezvous with her communist-activist lover (Matt Dillon). Their "parlor liberal" attitude both pleases and confuses Bigger, as do the girl's apparent sexual advances toward him. One evening, Bigger drives the girl home after she's gotten herself drunk. She flirts harmlessly with him in her bedroom; when her blind mother (Carroll Baker) stumbles onto the scene, the terrified Bigger, certain that he'll be accused of rape, tries to muffle the girl so she can't talk. He accidentally kills her, whereupon the panicky Bigger hides the body and tries to pin the girl's "kidnapping" on her lover. Tragedy piles upon tragedy before Bigger's climactic murder trial and execution; throughout, we are given the impression that this sorry state of affairs would never have taken place without the black-white tensions and divisiveness that existed in 1930s, and which still exist to this day. During the trial scene, TV talk host Oprah Winfrey makes a heavily-made-up cameo appearance as Bigger's mother. The whole scene has the earmarks of an "Oscar clip," but Oprah's excessive histrionics pale in comparison to her brilliant, well-modulated performance in the earlier The Color Purple. The 1986 version of Native Son was co-produced by PBS' American Playhouse. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Jerrold Freedman
- Genres
- Drama
- In Theaters
- Dec 12, 1986 Wide
- Studio
- Live Home Video
Critic Reviews
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Vincent Canby, New York Times
The film makers haven't listened to Wright. They appear to have been aiming at the same genteel audience that insists on seeing something sentimental and upbeat even in a television movie-of-the-week about AIDS.
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Richard Harrington, Washington Post
Transforms the novel into an all-too-genteel crime story, denuded of rage, devoid of social and historic context.
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Rita Kempley, Washington Post
Unfortunately, drama translates as melodrama and speechy, preachy dialogue tells us we're watching something that's good for us.
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Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The movie understands that the story really is about the killer's point of view. It is not the story of a crime, not a docudrama, not a sociological essay.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ultimately, the film fails because of Silver's fears of offending the audience, the same fear that Wright himself faced and overcame.
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Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Carroll Baker
as Mrs. Dalton
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Akosua Busia
as Bessie
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Matt Dillon
as Jan
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Art Evans
as Doc
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John Karlen
as Max
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Victor Love
as Bigger Thomas
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Elizabeth McGovern
as Mary Dalton
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John McMartin
as Mr. Dalton
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Geraldine Page
as Peggy
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Willard E. Pugh
as Gus
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David Rasche
as Buckley
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Lane Smith
as Britton
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Oprah Winfrey
as Mrs. Thomas
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Arell Blanton
as White Man #3
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William Boyett
as Reporter #3
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Chuck Hicks
as White Man #4
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John Otrin
as Reporter #1
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Ving Rhames
as Jack
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George D. Wallace
as Judge
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Richard Wesley
as Bartender
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Adam Gregor
as Reporter #2
