Movie Review: Lackawanna Blues

Lackawanna Blues: Torgo approves

As the opening credits were rolling for this movie, M-N said she didn't need to watch, because it's basically one of those movies that every black actor is in. That's pretty much true: S. Epatha Merkerson, Terrence Howard, Mos Def, Lou Gossett Jr., Macy Gray, Ernie Hudson, Delroy Lindo, Jeffrey Wright, Saul Williams... Halle Berry is a producer, Me'Shell NdegeOcello did the music.

Then, there's Jimmy Smits, Rosie Perez, and Liev Schrieber to round things out.

So it's an ensemble movie. It's not blazingly original or captivating, but the script is decent and the actors, as often seems to happen in ensemble movies, raise each other's performances, as though everyone wants to have his or her big moment.

As usual, Terrence Howard is terrific. He's just casually authoritative, as though it's not big effort. Macy Gray was better than I'd expect her to be, but then, I don't really know much about her. I wanted more of Mos Def, but he's just a singer in a band. Ernie Hudson's agent at least found him a better role than the scene he had (that I saw) on Desperate Housewives, also better than his role in Congo, but not better than Ghostbusters (That's a big Twinkie).