User Reviews

To me, without doubt, Danny Glover's best movie. When a bad man invades a normal household in the guise of a welcome family guest a lot of things start to happen. It plays out in very subtle ways. Glover is never gross or overt, but he's the Devil for sure. Beautifully paced and shot...it is perfectly simply 'what it is.'

I suppose it will appeal more to 'matured' tastes...because it's a movie about character...no bang bang stuff here. Subtlety doesn't have to be boring with this much intelligence behind it.....Can't go wrong watching this....

Upon its initial release in 1990, "To Sleep with Anger" went largely unnoticed, owing to poor distribution. However, over the years, the film has garnered critical acclaim as a significant domestic drama centered around an African American family residing in South Los Angeles. In 2017, it was recognized and selected for preservation in the Library of Congress's National Film Registry.

Regrettably, despite its recognition and acclaim, I found myself struggling to engage with the movie. The most prominent issue lies in its excruciatingly slow pace, taking an extended duration before introducing the central antagonist, Harry, played by Danny Glover.

Before Harry's arrival, the film primarily focuses on exploring the dynamics of the household he eventually disrupts. The family consists of elder parents Gideon and Suze, along with their two adult sons: the composed Junior and the unstable Samuel (also known as Baby Brother), both of whom are married with children. The brothers harbor resentment towards each other, with Junior criticizing Baby Brother for not fulfilling his responsibilities as a father and providing support to their parents.

Harry is intended to embody a devilish figure, sowing discord within the family. However, director Charles Burnett takes a remarkably subtle approach to the character, eschewing the use of overt supernatural elements present during the credits, where Harry is depicted sitting in a chair with his feet bursting into flames.

Unfortunately, this subtlety leads to a lack of memorable suspenseful events that should have driven Harry's eventual alienation from the family, culminating in a violent confrontation.

The most menacing aspect of the invited interloper is the knife he carries, accompanied by expressions of superstitious beliefs, hinting at a dark past. Moreover, Harry's misogyny becomes evident as he alludes to the once-libertine life of the now reformed Hattie.

In modern terms, Harry could easily be described as a passive-aggressive character, unable to control his innate negativity. Ultimately, Suze, the family matriarch, asks him to leave, while Gideon's health declines drastically.

The narrative only gains momentum towards the end of the second act when Baby Brother brandishes a knife against Junior, leading to Suze injuring her hand while intervening. Intriguingly, Baby Brother was about to run away with Harry, who encouraged him to find another woman.

The "agent provocateur" finally meets his end, suffering a heart attack and dying on the kitchen floor. The film has been labeled a "black comedy" on Wikipedia, partly due to the darkly humorous finale where Harry's body remains unclaimed, possibly due to the County Coroner's bias against their African American heritage or simply because they are overwhelmed with other cases.

At least there is a glimmer of a happy ending, with Gideon's recovery and the reconciliation of the two siblings.

Glover's portrayal of the devilish troublemaker is convincingly executed, despite the film's overly subtle approach. The rest of the cast performs well, but they are constrained by a slow-moving script that lacks significant plot points and reversals, which could have made the story more engaging.

"To Sleep with Anger" may have earned recognition for its portrayal of domestic turmoil in an African American family, but its excruciatingly slow pacing and underdeveloped plot prevent it from becoming a truly captivating cinematic experience.

Some people like to meditate and philosophize about The Tragic Condition of Man. Others like to deliver you over to the idea that Life is a game. While still more will tell you shut up with all that stuff because Life is strictly business and the sooner you get used to that fact the better off you will be, sucker. Finally others will show up at your door to humbly ask whether or not this is where folks is having the party.

As an African American, I can happily say I belong to the last group. I recall as a youngster of about five or six waking up to the sound of laughing and the smell and crackling of fried chicken on the stove and being asked by the smiling faces of relatives how I was doing today and knowing they were eager and interested about my welfare and really cared. I would go to bed at night under warm covers and the sound of more laughter as chicken was again sizzling in the kitchen with me hoping it would never come to an end. This film is a slice of that. Pick you out a drumstick, a breast or a wing, Junior...

I would tell you that it takes all kinds to make a world, but I think I just did. Every once in awhile, you will find a dude showing up who gives off this strange set of vibes about something you can't quite put your finger on. Oh, he says all the right things and does all the right things and observes all the social niceties, but still there's that something that's off and doesn't quite fit. Sometimes he doesn't speak at all. He just stands there and you are witness to an almost imperceptible shift and change in the mood of the social atmosphere. This happened to me one time while I was putting on the performance of one of my One-Act Plays at a local Coffee House here in Detroit. This fellow came in waiting for his wife to get off work that night and I swear he exuded the most murderous wrath of anybody I ever encountered. All with a straight face and turning to you the most placid of countenances. I can't tell you how relieved I was to see him go. I remarked to James Wheeler, one of the founders of Concept East, about this later and he simply chuckled.

TO SLEEP WITH ANGER (1990) is about something on this order. I remember in the entertainment field a lot of times I would see black performers overdo stuff because they were trying to prove or demonstrate that they were just as good or better than the White Man. What is truly great about this film is how it is a masterpiece of mood, atmosphere and understatement. Understatement is not something I usually associate with actors too much. I think about Sammy Davis Junior's hectic prancing or the roaring of James Earl Jones or the scenery chewing of Samuel L. Jackson and you go with it because after all, acting is basically about "Look at me! Look at me! Look at me!", to quote the venerable Lawrence Olivier. But as Cecilia Gomez would retort, "Art revealed is artifice, Art concealed is Art.", and there is plenty written and hidden between the lines here.

This is the Down South Vibration as I have so rarely seen it convincingly represented. The other examples that immediately come to mind are SOUNDER (1972), as well as Don Cheadle and Denzel Washington playing Mouse and Easy Rawlins in DEVIL IN A BLUE DRESS (1995) respectively. Writer and Director Charles Burnett is to be applauded for so successfully transplanting this vibration to the big city of Los Angeles. Here the atmosphere of 'Down Home' is even stronger.

The characters are all very vivid and make me recall my Uncles and Aunts down in Mobile, Alabama. To my mind, there is not a stereotype in the bunch despite of all their foolishness. While there doesn't seem to be much plot or story here, it really is all about the clouds descending upon this particular African American family and then parting and lifting with a naturalistic flow that Eddie Murphy flirted with in his classic HARLEM NIGHTS (1989). Danny Glover leads the cast playing a certain Harry who, as they would say, is somehow not wrapped too tight, but memorable performances from Paul Butler as the beleaguered father Gideon, Mary Alice as mother Suzie, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Linda, along with Carl Lumbly as Junior and Vonetta McGee as Pat with Richard Brooks as Babe Brother among others make this a folksy ensemble effort.

Anyway, I hear someone ringing the doorbell. Somebody get that. Don't worry about Harry, he's been here since last morning. Cut you a piece of sweet potato pie and don't forget to put the fried tripe and the ox tails and ribs on low...