What a wonderful film, filled with eccentric, unique characters who are wonderfully realized by a great ensemble cast. The director also did a great job keeping the story held together, getting those wonderful performances (on not messing with them) and using music (and what wonderful music it is) to great effect. S. Epatha in the lead role is great. I had always heard what a brilliant stage actor she is, and although I have enjoyed her on Law and Order, this really shows what she can do with a filled out, complex role. Macy Gray is terrific, Mos Def, as usual, wonderful. Lou Gossett, great. Jimmy Smits, terrific, and doesn't try to pull focus because he's a star. A true piece of ensemble acting. Rent it, enjoy it, groove to it, and treasure it. Something special.

Lackawana Blues An impressive HBO movie about a beautiful woman that made her house a home for several characters.Touching,alive,entrancing-a great mix of sound and story- based on a true story featuring an All-Star cast.A time capsule about .....you get the point and no I am not on the payola for the HBO crew- I would throw around more superlatives but I am about to go out . The extras on the DVD include a deleted scene,a featurette and commentary.The funniest part about the featurette was "star" lighting they used when interviewing exec producer Halle Berry..OK seriously - good times A

Lackawanna Blues is a drama through and through. It details the life of a strong woman by the name of Rachel Crosby (S. Epatha Merkerson). Rachel is referred to as Nanny by all who know her, but she could have just as easily been called Wonder Woman. She epitomized strength, will power, confidence and resolve. She owned a home that she used to house just about every type of person that society would reject. Her tenants consisted of a lesbian, a psychotic war veteran, an amputee, and a host of other vagrants that made the home miles away from ordinary. Each successive event Rachel took in stride and handled flawlessly. She wasn't a dictator devoid of compassion, but in fact she was quite the opposite. She displayed compassion almost to a fault by giving shelter and refuge to so many that she seemed to over-extend herself.Merkerson did a good job, but I believe this role was right up her alley anyway. The movie had an even keel never straying from Rachel. There were of course dramatic moments but they were to be expected. Nothing was ever to shocking or profound other than Rachel herself.

This movie begins in the 1950s in Lackawanna, NY, when Ruben Santiago Jr. was born. This is his story which spans roughly 30 years. But there is another main character which really gives the whole movie its tone, and reason for the story being told.S. Epatha Merkerson is Rachel "Nanny" Crosby, a 50-ish woman who has turned her two story home into a boarding house and restaurant. She never turns anyone away, even if they seem a bit crazy. But she also isn't shy about standing eye to eye with a bully looking for the wife he beat up the night before. Nanny has the good fortune of being there for little Ruben when the boy's mom and dad both turn out to be more interested in the rest of the world than their son. Nanny becomes Ruben's real mother, and in her care he grows up to be a fine, well educated man.What the movie accurately depicts is how it was to live as a black person in the 1950s and 1960s in Lackawanna, NY. It is a side of society that we seldom see in movies. It has a great ensemble cast, but it is Merkerson as Nanny that makes the movie what it is. Hers is as good a perforations as any most of us have ever seen. The cast also includes the real Ruben Santiago Jr. as Freddie Cobbs.It is out now on DVD. Truly a special movie.