A Thousand and One

This movie was so well done, from start to finish! The talented cast seamlessly conveyed the compelling storyline. Moving the audience through their heartfelt emotions. I really enjoyed the movie and every emotion I have was stirred. Highly recommend seeing it if you havent already. Teyana is an amazing actress!. I loved the 90s vibe, and I was completely shocked by the plot twist. I definitely wasn't expecting that outcome. I really enjoyed the movie and every emotion I have was stirred. Highly recommend seeing it if you havent already. Teyana is an amazing actress!. I loved the 90s vibe, and I was completely shocked by the plot twist. I definitely wasn't expecting that outcome. I guess my next question would be...what's next?

This features quite a strong performance from a convincing Teyana Taylor. She is "Inez" who decides that she wants to reclaim her young son "Terry" from his life on the streets of New York. What now ensues illustrates quite well the difficulties they both face as they both grow up with little by way of opportunity - or money - but determined to stick together despite their not always seeing eye to eye. Along the way, she marries "Lucky" (William Catlett), a decent man who offers some stability and it begins to look like "Terry" (by this stage played by Josiah Cross, but played well as a child by Aaron Kingsley Adetola) might just have a chance. Thing is, as the audience know by now, the relationship between mother and son is not as it seems - and the impending action of the authorities, coupled with a rather unscrupulous landlord, look like the wrecking ball is en route to their dreams. It meanders a bit too much for me, this film. It could have easily lost twenty minutes and the writing could have focussed better on developing the "Terry" character a little more, but it's still quite a powerful assessment of family values, loyalty and civic indifference that ought to make anyone sit up and take notice. It doesn't need a big screen - but is worth a watch on the telly.

"Why do you keep leaving me?" Terry ( Aaron Kingsley Adetola)

While this lament in the remarkable A Thousand and One is from a 6-year-old Harlem kid to his ex-con mother, Inez (Teyana Taylor), it stands for those who regret the quickly gentrifying part of NYC that is losing its black identity to white incursions.

So goes one of the best dramas of the year as that feisty mom steals the son she lost from a foster home to create a home that she regularly leaves to fight for with "no tools" other than her remarkable energy and combativeness. As we navigate the many episodes of her fight and watch her Terry grow into an intelligent albeit muted young man, first-time writer/ director A. V. Rockwell nimbly shows the changes overcoming Harlem in the nineties and the young Terry during 15 years rising academically to qualify for NYC's noted tech schools. As in Moonlight, we see a seamless transition among the three actors in the three stages of Terry's life.

One of the stars of this accurate and humane melodrama is DP Erik K. Yue, whose lens captures the changes with a sharp eye for the telling detail, like graffiti and corporate businesses replacing long-lost street artistry and bodega charm. Not needing such eye-pleasing photography are the aggressive policing tactics, notably the stop-and-frisk action that affected young black males more than any other minority. When Terry is accosted, his muted reaction emphasizes the quiet terror that dogged young men in nineties Harlem.

Not all is gloom in A Thousand and One, for Lucky (William Catlett, a combo of Idris Elba and Delroy Lindo) exemplifies strong black males with big hearts and the flaws that too-often accompany such gifts. Lucky marries Inez perhaps not realizing the collateral damage mother and son can inflict. Yet, he does contribute to their welfare, mostly in wise counsel. For Terry, he provides the impetus to make his own decisions. As in the drama itself, Lucky shows that tough conditions accompany a tough life, and self-reliance, like Mom's, is the key to eventual deliverance.

My guest critic on It's Movie Time, Mindy Mcfann, claims this is the best movie she's seen in years. Pay attention to her-she has impeccable taste about street drama.

The first 10-15 minutes of this film had me wriggling in my seat and wondering if I was going to be able to sit through it. It starts with the central character, Inez, a hard-faced inmate leaving Riker's Island and re-starting her life back in New York after an unspecified prison term. Inez is clearly a tough cookie and even her first meeting her son Terry on the street had me silently screaming "run, kid, run!" It turns out that Terry had been put in foster care and, when he ends up in hospital shortly after, Inez goes to visit him and decides to kidnap him from the authorities under whose care he had been placed.

However, I found myself getting sucked in to the story, as grim and sometimes hard to watch as it was. Here we had a woman who had nothing - no money, no home and few prospects - grabbing a child because she somehow believed she could give him a better life. Her first act after snatching him was to phone around former acquaintances to beg for a free place to stay and it was truly heartbreaking to watch her desperation and the glimpse of the life she had brought this child into.

Yet she manages to get on her feet and the rest of the movie follows her, Terry and the man she marries, Lucky, as they if not thrive certainly survive. As compelling as the human characters become, there is another star of this film and that is the New York neighbourhood of Harlem. With the liberal use of overhead shots and long street scenes we see the neighbourhood go from grungy through a gradual gentrification. This is reflected more intimately in a sub plot where their new landlord tries to manipulate the family out of their low rent home, and leave them with fallen ceilings, broken pipes and a non-functioning shower.

There is a plot twist at the end that made my jaw drop which I see some people didn't like, but which I thought fleshed out the character of Inez quite well and gave depth to her motivations. All in all a gritty movie that was hard to watch in some places, a raw and honest depiction of the brutal poverty in which people sometimes live, but underscored by excellent performance by all.

Since the trailer I was drawn to Teyana Taylor's portrayal of a mother trying to make ends met to raise her son. I was not disappointed in her performance in the slightest. She absolutely deserves recognition for her role in this film. William Catlett was also very good and had good chemistry with Teyana. All the other actors were also very convincing in their roles. I would just say I expected a bit more emotion from Josiah Cross in one of the scenes towards the end of the film.

This movie does a great job at portraying the grittiness of New York and the hardships that many have to endure. The film does a good job at building the relationships between the main three characters. The problem with this film is that it took too long to get into the climax. Constant situations would arise but it was apparent that there had to be something more to the story being told. The audience is left waiting too long for that major turning point in the film.

When the film finally got to that much awaited moment it did deliver a heartwarming moment. This is a very deep story and I would recommend people watch it for how real and relatable the story is.