To All My Friends on Shore

"To All My Friends On Shore" presents Bill Cosby in a light you've probably not seen in him before - in a dramatic production with no humor whatsoever. Since I've found many comedians to be effective at drama when given the change, I was looking forward to this. Added to the interest was that Cosby is not only credited with coming up with the basic idea for the movie, he also composed the music score. But in the end, the movie is kind of disappointing. Cosby keeps the same basic tone throughout - even when he learns his on screen son was taken to the hospital, he remains at the same tone! The first half of the movie is somewhat slow as well. Things do improve in the second half of the movie, with Cosby's character forced to change his way of thinking, and that is interesting. But the movie still suffers from technical goofs ranging from seeing the reflection of the cameraman to poorly recorded audio that makes it hard to make out what people are saying at times. Still, while this movie is somewhat disappointing, it's way, way better than "Top Secret", another dramatic turn by Cosby made six years later.

Having mainly seen Dr. Cosby (I refer him as such because of his PHD) in "Fat Albert", "The Cosby Show", his movies with Sidney Poitier, and his guest appearances in various '70s variety shows (as well as starring in his own short-lived ABC show), I was wonderfully surprised to see him playing a dramatic role in this TV movie from his own idea about a ghetto man who works various jobs in order to save enough money to buy a home for his maid working/nurse training wife and his teenage son. Because he doesn't let his son out much, there is some animosity between them. Cosby does a good job in fleshing his character's background to his son during many of the walks and drives that are well staged by director Gilbert Gates (Oh, God! Book II, The Academy Awards). Gloria Foster (The Matrix I and II) is fine as the wife. The son (Dennis Hines) later gets a disease that is common for blacks so we also get some lessons about Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow People that leads to a very touching denouement. The $1 DVD I got is double-billed with The Black Brigade with Richard Pryor and Billy Dee Williams. Worth checking out for any Cosby fans.

I received this movie in the "50 all-star movie" collection box for $16.99, now avail as low as $10. (20 cents per movie!) A lot of little gems like this one, made for TV on TV budgets in the 1970's. Wonderful time-capsules to show our children and remember ourselves, that otherwise would be locked away.

We have a straightforward plot and characters, and Cosby's were very reminiscent of my grandparents that went through the depression and saved aluminum foil, rubber bands, and Christmas bows to reuse later. Good stories establish believable characters then have them resolve a conflict, but Cosby (the writer) may have pushed too hard in defining archetypes of the goal driven father, the status quo father, the torn mother, and frustrated son. I found the father's repeated gruffness irritating, but was guessing Cosby was playing a caricature of someone from memory. The son's illness may have been a little melodramatic, but the response and resolution in the last 30 minutes (which I won't spoil) was sweet without being saccharine and seemed to me somehow special yet reasonable for the man we had come to know.

This movie would not have won an Oscar, but I enjoyed it just the same.

The film was clearly made for $3, or the equivalent of $3 in movie finances. It's very slow at times, but it really picks up once we learn the sons diagnosis.

While certain things date the film, such as the camera, fashion, and the doctors hair, it's still timeless in a way.

The film covers poverty, sickle cell, the ghetto, and father and son dynamics. The kids a sweet kid with angst since his family is poor. I think even todays kids could relate to him. The film did what it could.

This so boring. I do not know why any one would give the a 7 it is the most boring crap ever. It is just sad and boring. If you want get bored or sad then you might like. When see a movie I do not want to be bored. This movie bad written. It is about nothing but sad. And depressing. If you want be. Depressed when you see a movie them you might give movie 7 or higher. But not me sorry. I give this 1 out of 10. This is an awful and sad movie. Do not see it if you like good movie. A lot people do like good movies about monsters or ghost or killers that are scary. They like boring movies like this.