|
-== WHITE
MAN'S BURDEN ==-
Two men at odds in a world
turned upside down.
This
drama, starring John Travolta and Harry Belafonte, offers a speculative
view of the US in which African-Americans hold the bulk of the country's
wealth and power while whites are the downtrodden underclass. It
is set in the chocolate factory of Thaddeus Thomas. There Louis
Pinnock works on the floor. One day he is told to deliver a few
papers to Thomas's posh home. It is an immense estate and Pinnock
gets lost in the great gardens; he ends up accidentally seeing Thomas'
wife dressing in the window. Thomas sees the whole thing and becomes
most uncomfortable. He sends word that he wants a new courier and
this causes Pinnock's supervisor to overreact and fire him. Pinnock
attempts to explain to Thomas, but he refuses to listen. Things
go from bad to worse as Pinnock is unable to find a new job. One
day, the cops mistake him for a suspect and beat him to a pulp.
When Pinnock staggers home, he finds an eviction notice on his door
forcing his wife and kids to stay with his mother, who blames him
and refuses to allow him in her door. Pinnock ends up living in
an abandoned building. Now with nothing to lose, he becomes desperate.
He gets a gun and kidnaps Thomas. For his release, Pinnock asks
for back pay for all the overtime hours he was never compensated
for over the years. The magnate doesn't recognize Pinnock, and this
hurts even more. The angered ex-employee takes the boss to a bank
so he can withdraw the money, but it has just closed and so Pinnock
forces Thomas to stay with him through the weekend. During that
time, the two get to know each other and begin to understand the
other's point of view. Thomas sees that Pinnock is a basically good
man who loves his family while Pinnock sees that Thomas isn't really
a villain. Unfortunately, by this time, destiny has taken over and
tragedy ensues. -- Sandra
Brennan, All-Movie Guide
PRODUCTION:
| Produced by: |
Columbia Pictures Corporation / Los Hooligans
Productions |
| Language: |
English |
| Runtime: |
USA:89 |
| Music by |
Stanley Clarke
Howard Shore
Ken King |
| Directed by |
Desmond Nakano |
| Written by |
Allison Burnett
Desmond Nakano |
| Cinematography by |
Bernd Heinl
Willy Kurant |
| Production Design by |
Nancy Deren
Naomi Shohan |
| Costume Design by |
Isis Mussenden
Karen Perry |
| Film Editing by |
John Stuart Bick
Ray Hubley
Nancy Richardson |
| Produced by |
Ben Barenholtz
Lawrence Bender
Mark Jacobs
Ron Kastner |
CAST (in credits order):
| John Travolta |
Louis Pinnock |
| Harry Belafonte |
Thaddeus Thomas
|
| Kelly Lynch |
Marsha Lynch |
| Margaret Avery |
Megan Thomas |
| Tom Bower |
Stanley |
| Andrew Lawrence |
Donnie Pinnock
|
| Bumper Robinson |
Martin |
| Tom Wright |
Lionel |
| Sheryl Lee Ralph |
Roberta |
| Judith Drake |
Dorothy |
| Robert Gossett |
John |
| Wesley Thompson |
Williams |
| Tom Nolan |
Johansson |
| Willie C. Carpenter |
Marcus |
| Michael Beach |
Policeman #1 Outside
Bar |
|
