A RAISIN IN THE SUN is the 2nd television remake of the 1961 film based on the play by Lorraine Hansberry and the recent Broadway revival about broken dreams that centers on the Younger family, a hard-working black family living in a cramped Chicago tenement in 1959, to whom we are introduced to the day before the family is to receive a $10,000.00 insurance check and the tensions that arise from the plans that the young patriarch of the family has already made for money that really isn't his. Lena Younger (Phylicia Rachad) is a strong,God-fearing woman who has worked as a housekeeper to a white family for years but has decided to retire because of her impending windfall (the check is only coming because of the death of Lena's husband). Walter Lee Younger (Executive Producer Sean "Puffy" Combs)is a chauffeur who wants to use Lena's money to start his own business. Walter's wife, Ruth (Audra McDonald)is a strong-willed woman who finds herself constantly torn between her husband and her mother-in-law, often at the expense of her son Travis(Justin Martin). Beneatha (Sanaa Lathan) is Walter's flighty, free-spirited sister, struggling to find her identity as a black woman, full of more dreams than she can handle, which are further complicated by her relationships with two completely different kind of men. This story first hit theaters in 1961 with Sidney Poiter as Walter Lee, Ruby Dee as Ruth, and Claudia McNeill as Lena. Combs has brought the cast of the highly successful Broadway revival (which won Tony Awards for Rachad and McDonald) to the small screen and aided by the detailed direction of Kenny Leon, has opened up the story for the television screen without losing the story's intensity or intimacy. Phylicia Rachad is nothing short of brilliant, in the performance of her career, as Lena, the proud matriarch struggling to hold her family together and hoping that this money might help. Audra McDonald, who has won 4 Tony Awards for her work in Broadway musicals and won a fifth for this role on Broadway, proves that she is as powerful an actress as she is songstress as she brings a depth and substance to the pivotal role of Ruth that I have never seen before. Sanaa Lathan also offers one of her best performances as the bombastic Beneatha, a walking talking hurricane of emotions struggling to find who she is in a world where she feels like she is suffocating. Sadly, Sean Combs had some big shoes to step into, taking on a role originated by Sidney Poiter and for me, his performance just doesn't work...there is an emptiness to the performance that implies Combs really doesn't understand a man like Walter Lee. Combs also seems to be unaware at times that he is now in front of a television camera and not in a Broadway theater and that certain facets of his performance have to be taken in and controlled, which can be partly blamed on the director I suppose, but this problem only exists with Combs, not his leading ladies. Poitier brought a dignity and maturity to the role of Walter Lee that Combs is missing...he plays the role as a petulant child, diluting a lot of its power. Despite Combs problematic performance, this film stands as a worthy tribute to its predecessors thanks to the mostly effective direction by Kenny Leon and three extraordinary performances from Sanaa Lathan, Audra McDonald, and especially Phylicia Rachad.

This entry of the 2008 TV movie version of Lorraine Hansberry's play "A Raisin in the Sun" that just aired on ABC four days ago, is my final entry on African-Americans in film and television in chronological order for Black History Month. Nearly the entire cast of the recent Broadway revival of this still-resonant drama-Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan, and Bill Nunn-reprise their roles here. They're all great as well as Sean Patric Thomas, David Oyelowo, Paul Stephen, and, as Carl Linder-the man who tries to buy the Youngers out of their new house, John Stamos. Rashad and McDonald, both of whom won Tonys for their performances, should repeat at the Emmys this fall. Combs, usually known as Puff Daddy/P. Diddy/Diddy, holds his own with the experienced veterans here. Scenes such as Rashad slapping daughter Lathan after the latter denounces God or Combs doing his "shufflin' Negro" act near the end to everyone's disgust still packs a wallop. And writer Paris Qualles, whose work I just watched on The Rosa Parks Story, and director Kenny Leon open up the play's locations and expand on the dialogue considerably well. What else can I say except it's been a wonderful journey watching how much African-American performers and filmmakers have evolved over the nearly 90 years with nearly 100 listings here at IMDb during this special month. With the writer's strike still in effect at the beginning of it, I thought this was as good a time as any to celebrate some of the most acclaimed and popular celebrities America and the world has ever known. With that, I'll just say thanks for anyone who's read this and my other BHM comments and gave me favorable and even not-so-favorable marks as a result. Oh, and feel free to read and mark my other non-BHM comments as well!