This is a TV film based off a play. It should have stayed a play, because it just plain isn't good enough to be a movie. It's a very hokey sort of piece, mostly because of the bad acting and the weak ending.Hmmm, what else can I say about this film in order to fill up the required minimum? I don't really know. It's a mundane sort of thing that your teacher makes you watch in theater class because (s)he can't show the really good stuff (or because (s)he has really tame tastes in what is considered engaging drama).I'll admit, this movie is socially significant, and August Wilson did a fine job with the original storyline. But this made-for-TV thing is just verbatim crap.Final grade: 4/10

This play is not as simple as it first appears. There is great complexity in all of the major characters, especially in Bernice. And the use of the 'jazz set' model instead of the traditional Aristotelian'plot graph' makes all the difference! The language of the play is music itself, and eventually erupts into song. This is a wonderful debate on the importance of the past and the future in the lives of these characters, symbolized by the piano which has been passed down through the family. A cast full of excellent actors brings it to life. Loved it! I hope 'The Piano Lesson' and the other plays in Wilson's ten-play cycle will soon be available on film.

You have to come up in a certain culture to understand the overreactions of Charles S. Dutton. They really weren't overreactions, but what makes the film so comical is that there were (and still are) African-Americans that behave that way. What makes it funny is that we all at some point have relatives that are like those in the movie, esp. the part where he comes to visit early in the morning unannounced and expects everyone to get up to greet him. We also have some Uncle Doakers who minds his own business and some con artists like Uncle Whining Boy. Now the part I do agree on is the supernatural aspect of the film. With all the joking and jesting going on, it does drown out the concept meaning it doesn't fit. Otherwise it's a good movie if you want to have a good laugh.

This movie is a weird mix of a ghost story and a drama. The story is in the beginning vague and when you continue watching it, it becomes clearer and clearer, but it does not suck you into the story and make you want to see how it ends, maybe because the director made it more dramatic then scary.I do not remember any background music in the movie, which makes it more special. The music is coming from the actors themselves, which was amazing to me and I must say to the actors: well done!