Female Film Critics 24/375
From the jump, audiences will see the lead character in director Nadia Latif’s The Man in My Basement is pretty unlikable. Charles Blakey (Corey Hawkins) has alienated what little family he has left, he is belligerent to his friends, and seems to be full of self-hatred. He has made some very bad decisions, some relayed onscreen, and some that may or may not come to light through the course of the film.
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Director Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson infuses humor as an uplifting complement to the incisive and insightful commentary on racism, family ties, spirituality, and profound but endangered friendships. Set during the Great Migration, centered on the revered, inherited piano, the family’s and friends’ reactions differ. Boy Willie wants to sell it for, to him, a noble purpose: the dream of owning his own land as a free man. His sister, young widow Berniece, cannot fathom such disrespect for the spirits embodied in and carved into this venerated piano. Events and subplots punctuate their conflict: a potential romance, drinking and playing cards, a visit to a lively bar, and, most significantly, the presence of a credibly malevolent ghost that haunts their history.
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