To Sleep with Anger

Director: Charles Burnett Charles Burnett

Overview

African-American drifter Danny Glover shows up at the LA doorstep of his old pal Paul Butler. In the spirit of auld lang syne, Butler takes Glover in, though his wife (Mary Alice) is not happy with this intrusion. She already has enough on her hands contending with her grown live-in son Richard Brooks and his real-estate agent wife Sheryl Lee Ralph. Glover ingratiates himself by reminding family of their Southern roots; less positively, he drinks a great deal, brings suspicious-looking cronies into the household. When Butler suffers a stroke, Glover assumes charge of the house--whereupon his charm evaporates and disaster follows. But Glover isn't really the villain of To Sleep With Anger: everyone in the film is depicted in all-too-human shades of gray. This effort by African American writer/ director Charles Burnett was the first of his films to attract widespread critical notice, almost 13 years after he created the seminal Killer of Sheep.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/26/2019
UPC:	0715515226714
Original Release:	1990
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[Wide Screen, Color]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround]
Time:	1:42:00
Sales rank:	29,178

Special Features

New, restored 4K digital transfer, approved by director Charles Burnett, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack Of Family and Folklore, a new interview program, featuring Burnett, actors Danny Glover and Sheryl Lee Ralph, and associate producer Linda Koulisis A Walk with Charles Burnett, a new hour-long conversation between Burnett and filmmaker Robert Townsend that revisits Burnett's films and shooting locations Short video tribute to Burnett produced for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governors Awards ceremony in 2017

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Danny Glover	Harry Mention
Richard Brooks	Babe Brother
Paul Butler	Gideon
Mary Alice	Suzie
Carl Lumbly	Junior
Sheryl Lee Ralph	Linda
Vonetta McGee	Pat
Wonderful Smith	Preacher
Ethel Ayler	Hattie
Regina King	Rhonda
Gail Levin	Actor
Lauren Lloyd	Actor
DeVaughn Walter Nixon	Sunny
Cory Curtis	Skip
Paula Bellamy	Mrs. Baker
DeForest Covan	Fred Jenkins
Sy Richardson	Slash
Davis Roberts	Okra Tate
John Hawker	MC
Julius Harris	Herman
Lorrie Marlow	Cherry Bell
Jimmy Witherspoon	Percy
Mark Phelan	Paramedic #1

Technical Credits

Charles Burnett

Charles Burnett	Director,Screenwriter
Penny Barrett	Production Designer
Thomas S. Byrnes	Co-producer,Producer
Budd Carr	Musical Direction/Supervision
Caldecot "Cotty" Chubb	Co-producer,Producer
Michael Flynn	Associate Producer
Danny Glover	Executive Producer
Linda Koulisis	Associate Producer
Walt Lloyd	Cinematographer
Troy Myers	Art Director
Edward R. Pressman	Executive Producer
Nancy Richardson	Editor
Darin Scott	Co-producer,Producer
Gaye Shannon-Burnett	Costumes/Costume Designer
Susan Stremple	Production Manager
Stephen James Taylor	Score Composer
Harris Tulchin	Executive Producer

Editorial Reviews

The first "commercial" effort by resolutely independent African-American filmmaker Charles Burnett, To Sleep With Anger (1990) continued Burnett's efforts to move beyond black movie stereotypes. A low-key domestic drama involving a comfortably middle-class California family, Burnett's story about a disturbing visit from Danny Glover's quietly malign family friend Harry presents a subtle portrait of intergenerational dynamics that sets the film apart from the incipient early-'90s wave of "New Jack Cinema." Opening old wounds, evoking the power of the Old South heritage, and sparking long-simmering sibling rivalries, Harry's supernatural-tinged sojourn proves to be a lesson in the ongoing uncertainty of life and status. Despite the support and presence of star Glover, coming off the peak of his Lethal Weapon fame, To Sleep With Anger failed to attract audiences, sparking questions about the distributor's desultory efforts in marketing an African-American film that wasn't about youth and violence. Still, To Sleep With Anger remains a key film in the '90s African-American filmmaking renaissance, attesting -- like the work of Spike Lee -- to the range and depth of black experience waiting to be committed to celluloid.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola