Honeydripper

I don’t know John Sayles personally, though he was a Williams classmate of mine, but I’ve always felt an affiliation with his filmmaking -- he is truly the stand-alone model for the fully independent writer-director. And his heart is always in the right place, while his projects take him around the country and the world to bring back stories that need to be told. Some criticize him for being more literary than cinematic, but in my view, over a thirty-year career he has made a number of very good films and a few superlative ones. Eight Men Out and Lone Star stand out for me as the most fully realized, but I’d tick off more than a handful that are well worth seeking out, and Honeydripper is another. Sayles’ films are not likely to set your pulse racing or your heart to overflowing, but each makes a considered appeal to your mind and conscience. With exiguous financing and a drive to keep telling more stories, his films don’t always have the finish they might, but they are always literate and engaged, with fine acting from a large and diverse cast. In this film, set in Alabama in 1950, the cast is almost all African-American, led by Danny Glover as the proprietor of the juke joint of the title. Filmed on location, as always, the cast is filled out with nonprofessionals for genuine local color. Even some of the featured players are appearing in their first film, including Glover’s beautiful stepdaughter (model Yaya DeCosta, who steps nimbly from the runway into period character) and the itinerant guitar player she falls for (real performer Gary Clark Jr.) Besides capturing the moment when the blues gave way to rock ’n roll, the film gives an authentic rendition of Holiness tent revival preaching, and doesn’t demonize whites while still making clear the realities of the Jim Crow South. There are no real surprises along the way, but this film takes you places you ought to go. (2007, dvd, n.) *7* (MC-68.)