Down in the Delta (1998)

Rosa Lynn sends her druggie daughter Loretta and her children Thomas and Tracy away from the big city to live with their uncle Earl in the ancestral home in rural Mississippi. Earl puts ... See full summary »

Director:

Maya Angelou

Writer:

Myron Goble

Stars:

Alfre Woodard, Al Freeman Jr., Esther Rolle

2 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alfre Woodard	...	Loretta Sinclair
Al Freeman Jr.	...	Earl Sinclair
Esther Rolle	...	Annie Sinclair
Mary Alice	...	Rosa Lynn Sinclair
Loretta Devine	...	Zenia
Anne-Marie Johnson	...	Monica Sinclair
Mpho Koaho	...	Thomas Sinclair
Justin Lord	...	Dr. Rainey
Wesley Snipes	...	Will Sinclair
Kulani Hassen	...	Tracy Sinclair
Richard Yearwood	...	Marco
Sandra Caldwell	...	Volunteer
Colleen Williams	...	Tourist Woman
Richard Blackburn	...	Tourist Man
Philip Akin	...	Manager

Storyline

Rosa Lynn sends her druggie daughter Loretta and her children Thomas and Tracy away from the big city to live with their uncle Earl in the ancestral home in rural Mississippi. Earl puts Loretta to work in his restaurant, Just Chicken, while also telling them about the generations of their family, the Sinclairs, dating back to their time in slavery before the the Civil War.

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Plot Keywords:

Restaurant | Mississippi | Chicken | Slavery | Prayer | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes, the last place you expected to be is the one place you've always belonged...

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for drug related material

Details

Official Sites:

Miramax

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Daroma La'Delta

Filming Locations:

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,636,678 (USA) (25 December 1998)

Gross:

$5,662,985 (USA) (19 February 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Amen Ra Films, Chris/Rose Productions, Showtime Networks

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The bus runs, in two scenes, on narrow gravel roads. No scheduled bus line anywhere between Chicago and Mississippi would have run on a gravel road since, maybe, the 1930s.

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Quotes

Will Sinclair: I don't know how she's going to recognize me. She thinks somebody else is her own dead mother.
Earl Sinclair: Oh, yeah? Maybe somethin' come back if she more of ya.
Will Sinclair: Dad, how many times we got to talk about this? I'm not moving back to Mississippi.
Earl Sinclair: But your roots are here.
Will Sinclair: You taught me that my roots are here.
Will Sinclair: [pause, looks at the checkerboard] Whose move is it? You always do this. Why do you always start talking and then you...
Earl Sinclair: Your move.
[chuckles]
Earl Sinclair: Your move!

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Connections

Features The Bullwinkle Show (1961)

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Soundtracks

"There is a Balm In Gilead"
Afro-American Spiritual in Public Domain

User Reviews

Uplifting in the Delta

Al Freeman Jr. is one of the greatest actors of our time. This movie proved it.In fact everyone from this fine gentleman and little Kulani were all in fine form. I also enjoyed the fact that the young man in the story came from the inner city and his grandmother helped raise him so he was polite and caring. The role of Alfre found herself because of the love of her family not a man. The only problem with the movie was the presence of Nathan (sloppy symbolism) and the heavy-handed ending. And why was Anne-Marie Johnson so angry (very contrived). Maya needed some help in the editing room too! (Fades and black-outs were too long.) The movie had many messages about family that were dear to my heart.