The Simple Life Of Noah Dearborn

The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn Dianne Wiest Sidney Poitier Gregg Champion Mary-Louise Parker | Movie Trailers

Rating: Not Rated

Movie Release Date: May 9, 1999

DVD Release Date: February 8, 2005

Plot 411: A man fights a company that is trying to buy his land to build a mall.

Review: Sidney Poitier stars in this made-for-tv movie about a man named Noah. Noah is a carpenter by trade and has lived a tremendously long and simple life in the countryside. He is a master carpenter and has practically built the town with his bare hands. He is a small town legend in his own right. Quiet and respectful, he goes about his business without calling attention to himself. When city folks, led by a lawyer named Christian (George Newbern), come to buy his land from him, he refuses to sell. He is befriended by Christian's girlfriend Valerie (Mary-Louise Parker) and slowly learns to let people into his life. This was a film that pointedly contrasted urbanization and development with pure country living. There are benefits to both, I suppose, but the country life never looked so good as it did here. Poitier's character took strength in living off and working on the land. He lived alone and did all the farm chores himself. He cared for animals, farmed and harvested crops, chopped wood and made repairs. He lived without electricity and any other modern convenience, yet he was happy. For a tv movie, this one wasn't bad. There is a nice bit of character arc for Valerie and (predictably) none for Christian. There were some abrupt transitions between scenes and some dramatics going on between Christian and Valerie, but overall it was a nice movie to watch.

Watch It: For Poitier's quiet strength of performance.

Skip It: If you're looking for some real meat on the plot. It's a tv movie after all.

A Patch Of Blue

Rating: Not Rated

Movie Release Date: December 10, 1965

DVD Release Date: February 4, 2003

Plot 411: A blind girl meets a black man who helps to open her eyes to the world.

Review: Sidney Poitier is great in this film. He plays Gordon, an educated black man who meets a very naive and ignorant blind white girl named Selina (Elizabeth Hartman). At first he befriends her because he feels she just needs a little help. It sounds very much like pity to me, but I also think he just has a kind heart. This relationship soon develops and grows deeper. They fall in love, but Gordon refrains because of the racial climate they live in. Shelley Winters plays Selina's evil mother. She can't even write herself off as an 'evil step-mother.' She's a horrible person and treats her daughter like a slave. The two of them live with her father (Wallace Ford) Ole Pa. Both are serious drunkards, abusive and negligent in their care for Selina. They shelter her from the world for fear that she may actually leave. It's they who need her and not the other way around. Despite their behavior, I think they may really care for Selina (especially Ole Pa) but are caught up in a cycle of abuse and abusive actions. Their ignorance is also another reason for the way they live their despicable lives. A ton of themes run wild through this film - racism, classism, abuse (psychological, physical, verbal, sexual and alcohol) and education. While this is mostly a grim reminder of what life can be like at times, it also gives the viewer hope that things can be different and that change can happen with time and a lot of work.

Watch It: For what I think of as Sidney Poitier's portrayal of the perfect man - strong, moral, handsome, kind, educated, gentle, non-judgmental and more.

Skip It: If a character drama will put you to sleep. There's not much in the way of action in this film.

Blackboard Jungle

Rating: Unrated

Movie Release Date: March 19, 1955

DVD Release Date: May 10, 2005

Plot 411: A new teacher is faced with a class of unruly boys and apathetic co-workers but continues in his fight to reach them both.

Review: Similar to Dangerous Minds, this is another show about bad kids and teachers with good intentions. I guess you can say this is the grandfather of this genre since it was made in the '50s. I was surprised at the short PSA-like message before the film started. The film really was made in an effort to educate the public about the increasingly rebelious behavior of kids of this generation. It's interesting to see that not much has changed since then. In the film, one of the reasons for the disruptive behavior is the war. It took away fathers and mothers both - men to war, women out of the home and into the workplace - leaving the child alone with no moral teaching from either their family or church. In some ways, this still applies today. Another interesting thing about the film is how differently women were portrayed. They were much more fragile and faint of heart than we are today. I suppose the women's lib movement of the '60s and '70s are responsible for this. Besides the male/female dichotomy, I was surprised that there wasn't a color barrier between the black and white kids. In fact, Sidney Poitier played one of the students who were seen as a leader. I found this, and the diversity found within the rest of the class, to be interesting and even forward-thinking for this time period.

Watch It: For another take on students of the 1950s. It's like Grease but without the singing and dancing.

Skip It: If you're looking for a unique plot. This one's pretty much the same as all the rest.

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