Cast: Harvey Keitel, Andie MacDowell, Scott Terra, John Franklin Sawyer, Daniel Treat, Monica Bugajski, Erin Underwood, Jonathan Parks Jordan
Director: Susanna Styron
Producers: John Thompson, Boaz Davidson
Screenplay: Susanna Styron & Bridget Terry based on the short story by William Styron
Cinematography: Hiro Narita
Music: Van Dyke Parks
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Tinged with nostalgia and awash in sentimentality, Shadrach is a pleasant-but-inconsequential introduction to some of the most rudimentary mysteries of life and death. While the movie entertains, and doesn't overstay its welcome (it clocks in at a little less than an hour and a half), it covers its themes superficially, never delving deeply into any of them. And, although the film does an excellent job of evoking a sense of the Depression-era South, it fails to develop vivid characters.
This is the directorial debut of Susanna Styron, using a screenplay she co-adapted (with Bridget Terry) from a short story by her father, Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Styron. There's no shortage of issues in Shadrach. It deals with, among other things, the legacy of slavery and the means by which a child learns to cope with the great unknown of death. Unlike many recent films that have touched on slavery and racism, Shadrach does not assault viewers with grim, disturbing images (the closest it gets is a quick shot of black men shackled together at the ankles). This is a kinder, gentler story that idealizes the post-Civil War South. Bigotry is presented as an easily-curable character flaw, not a deeply-rooted social evil. Shadrach surely has good intentions, but, at times, its solutions seem too facile.
The film takes place in Tidewater, Virginia during the summer of 1935. The first images we see are of an old black man using a walking stick to make his way along uneven roads and paths. As we later learn, his name is Shadrach (John Franklin Sawyer), and he is nearly at the end of his journey. 99 years old and in failing health, Shadrach has walked 600 miles from Alabama to Virginia so he can die on "Dabney land." A century ago, he was born into slavery on the Dabney plantation, and now, with his death imminent, he has returned to the place he thinks of as home.
Shadrach is told from the point of view of Paul Whitehurst (Scott Terra), the 10 year-old best friend of the youngest Dabney boy, Little Mole (Daniel Treat). Paul and one of Little Mole's four older sisters, Edmonia (Monica Bugajski), form a special attachment to the dying old man. Meanwhile, the Dabney adults, Vernon (Harvey Keitel) and Trixie (Andie MacDowell), are divided about Shadrach. The kind-hearted Trixie believes that the family has a responsibility, as the descendants of Shadrach's former owners, to grant his final request and bury him on Dabney land. Vernon, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with the ex-slave. In the end, Trixie's gentle persuasion, coupled with the pricking of Vernon's conscience, wins the point. But complications arise when the local sheriff informs Vernon that it's against Virginia law to bury someone on private property - and Vernon, who barely makes enough money from distilling moonshine to scrape by, doesn't have the $35 necessary to give Shadrach a proper burial.
If Shadrach's characters were as well-developed as the setting, this might have been a stirring motion picture. But there's something missing. No one in this film is complex. Vernon is a familiar type - the good man with a flaw (bigotry). There's never much of a mystery about how he's going to handle the responsibility forced upon him by Shadrach's arrival. He grumbles a lot, but we know he's going to do the right thing. Likewise, Trixie fits into a comfortable niche -- the nurturing mother and strong-willed, supportive wife. Paul, who represents the audience's point-of-view, is only sketchily developed. One of Shadrach's key points is that his experience with the old man teaches him an important lesson about death, but the only way we know this is because the voiceover tells us -- it's not evident through the narrative. Finally, Shadrach himself is little more than a plot device. No attempt is made to mold this man into a genuine character. His personality is murky and his motives are less clear.
The casting choices are somewhat unusual. We're used to seeing Harvey Keitel roaming the streets of New York City as a gangster or a cop, but he gives a surprisingly effective performance as a Depression-era Virginia bootlegger who blames all of his troubles on FDR. Also cast against type is Andie MacDowell, who usually plays more glamorous roles than that of a barefooted, beer-drinking redhead who looks like the epitome of white trash. Like Keitel, MacDowell fits nicely into the part. Newcomer John Franklin Sawyer creates a credible and sympathetic Shadrach, although the limitations of the role restrict Sawyer's opportunity to do much more than look feeble and mumble "Praise the Lord!" No one else (including the various child actors) is especially memorable.
Shadrach is the kind of movie that will appeal to those who want to see light fare about serious subjects. This film does not unsettle and disturb the way Amistad and Beloved do. It offers an uncomplicated story, appealing characters, nice photography, and the illusion that it's saying something important. But what really is the message? That there's a nobility in honoring the dying wish of another? That there's equality in heaven? The problem is that the thematic content is vague and unsure. Shadrach covers a lot of ground, but it doesn't take the time to really be about anything. As a period piece slice-of-life movie, it's moderately entertaining, but it lacks the matter to be more substantial.
© 1998 James Berardinelli