"Holiday Heart" with Ving Rhames and Alfre Woodard (2000)

If you have never seen this movie you should. We have all seen the tough guy portrayals of Ving Rhames. He's great. But after a while you wonder what else can he do? "Holiday Heart" answers that question. He can act. Man, can he act!

In this movie he plays a drag queen/transvestite named Holiday. That's right; Ving Rhames. And he does it with integrity and compassion.

The movie is also a social commentary about how we are all interwoven. Your pain is mine. Through a set of circumstances he becomes involved in the life of a young girl who lives next door and is being raised by a crack addicted mother and a father who is in and out of jail for dealing drugs.

And that's all I will tell you about this extraordinary movie. Except that, in the end, Holiday Heart proves himself to be more of a man than most. This is a very worthwhile film.

Movie Review- American Violet with Alfre Woodward and Charles Dutton

This is a true story. It happens in every major city across America. The War on Drugs creates such enormous profits for the Government Agencies tasked with upholding the drug laws that Justice is often left far behind.

A single working Mom, who lives in the Projects, is caught up in a drug sweep. She is completely innocent. Represented by a Public Defender she tries to fight the charges. If convicted at trial she faces 16-25 years behind bars for a crime she did not commit. So she remains in jail, unable to post a $70,000 bond. She is offered a plea bargain, prison time suspended, but she has to fight the charges as even accepting the plea bargain will make her a Felon. This would result in her losing her Housing Subsidy, Food Stamps, Medical Care and leave her and her children homeless.

Between the Prosecutor and the Public Defender this woman is just a statistic. If she pleads guilty the State makes their quota and gets more Federal money to fight the War On Drugs. If she beats the charges the prosecutor looks bad. (Hence the empty offer of the plea bargain.) Money and Politics are at stake here- and when that happens Justice is denied.

Strong performances by all. Alfre Woodward as the Mother of the accused and also Charles Dutton as the Preacher are exceptional. With strong direction the movie makes it's point about Justice in America today.