Always Outnumbered

Laurence Fishburne is superb as Socrates Fortlow in the HBO movie of Walter Mosley's adaptation of his first book of Fortlow stories. Mosley wove his stories together fairly well in the screenplay. The quest for a job, the serious undertaking of mentoring Darryl, dealing with the dealer/mugger and with the car-jacker are cinematic. Daniel Williams' portrayal of Darryl as a vulnerable discarded child who has to act tough is very, very good. The friendship with Right Burke (Bill Cobbs) is plausible, but having "Right" narrate the film seems unnecessary to me. We can see in Fishburne's performance the kind of many Socrates is without Right telling us how heroic he is.

The relationships with women are less convincing, or at least less compelling. I don't remember what Luvia (Cicely Tyson) has against Socrates. His relationship with Iula Brown (Natalie Cole) lacks chemistry (and screen time).

I won't go into details of the storyline, as you can read that from other reviews. I will say that this is one of the best dramatic films I've seen that most haven't even heard of. It is a very moving story with many underlying plots that come together well and each stand out to be noticed. The acting was Grade A from everyone casted, the messages (and there were many) are relevant and stirring, and there just aren't enough good things to say about this film. I think that Larry Fishburne is one of our better black actors, I believe better than Denzel based on the variety of characters that Fishburne has played over the years, and this may have been his best work. His character and his acting is that strong in this film. If you've seen the movie "Pitch Black" with Vin Diesel (now that they've made a sequel 4 years later), you know that it was a slow, kind of boring movie, but Vin played his character Riddick with such coolness that his role made the flick. Fishburne does the same outstanding performance, but unlike Pitch Black, everything else about Outnumbered was strong in supporting the lead character. An excellent film that I would highly recommend.

But human on the inside. A warm, thoughtful, touching examination of both men and women. The little indignities we visit on each other everyday whether we are aware of them or not. The strength to do the right thing. This film is possibly Larry Fishburne's finest performance, subtle, nuanced, deeply felt. He seems so natural that this could be a documentary. Black on the surface because Walter Mosley can only write what he knows,as I can only write about what I have experienced, but human inside because here is a thoughtful man reflecting on a world that is not black and white but multicultural and multi-ethnic with the focus on what he knows.

This film should be shown in every school. It may not cure the troubles we see there but those it does reach will be changed.

A beautiful piece of cinema - don't be put off by the fact that it's listed as a television production - it has more heart and soul and craftsmanship than any fifty contemporary Hollywood films. Fishburne's portrayal of this very intricate character is one of the great male screen performances of his generation. I'll confess that I had more than a few tears rolling down my cheeks at the end of the film. Once again ignoring exceptional small-scale work, the Academy Awards and movie media in general proved themselves to be so much debilitating, meaningless, commercial rubbish by ignoring it. Resist the dumbing down of America and support films like this and, for example, "The Station Agent."

I came across this movie late one Sunday on HBO. I only got to see the last hour of it, but I was astounded by how moving it was. I tracked down the showtime and made time to watch it.

This film is about Laurence Fishburne ‘s attempt to find a place in the society that he left when he committed a terrible crime. There is a slight tinge of Black angst, but that isn't the main point. He could be any man, trying to find a new home and dealing with his past. It takes a long time before people come to accept Mr. Fortlow for what he is, a man in the true sense of the word.

He teaches us all a lesson in what it should be like to be a man. Be honest and true to yourself. Deal fairly with others. Do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. Simple to say, hard to do when you are always outnumbered