From legendary writer Alex Haley comes another fascinating glimpse of a generation impacted by slavery. In Mama Flora's Family, Erika Alexander's family sharecrops a plot of land in the 1910s. When Terrence Howard, the son of the landowner, takes a liking to her, he offers her a job as a caretaker to his dying grandmother Della Reese. The only problem is she'll have to move into the big house, and we all know where that'll lead.
This is only the beginning, and I won't tell you any of the weaves of the plot so you can just enjoy it as it unfolds. Erika grows up to become Cecily Tyson, and her story of suffering and sacrifice is cut in between the current 1970s timeline of Cecily trying to help her floundering granddaughter Queen Latifah find her way. Normally in movies that cut back and forth between decades, one part of the timeline is far more interesting than the other. In Mama Flora's Family, I was equally riveted by Erika's sadness as by the events that led to Queenie's downfall.
I don't know how I missed this miniseries when it aired on television, but I'm very glad I rented it recently. The acting is top-notch, the age makeup is convincing, and the production values place you right in the setting. If you didn't catch this family saga back in 1998 and you like Cecily Tyson, Erika Alexander, Blair Underwood, Mario Van Peebles, or Queen Latifah, you've got to rent it this weekend.
