To Sleep with Anger

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To Sleep with Anger
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Theatrical release poster
Directed byCharles Burnett
Written byCharles Burnett
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StarringPage Template:Plainlist/styles.css has no content.
CinematographyWalt Lloyd
Edited byNancy Richardson
Music byStephen James Taylor
Distributed byThe Samuel Goldwyn Company
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Running time
102 minutes
Template:Pluralize from textUnited States
Template:Pluralize from textEnglish
Box office$1.1 million[1]

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To Sleep with Anger is a 1990 American black comedy film written and directed by Charles Burnett,[2][3] and starring Danny Glover.

In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[4] It had a remastered home media release from the Criterion Collection on February 26, 2019.[5]

Plot

Gideon and his wife Suzie live in South Central Los Angeles (having moved there from the South years ago), where they spend time taking care of their grandson Sunny, as their son Samuel (also referred to as "Babe Brother") and his wife Linda each work during the day.

One day, Harry, a longstanding friend from the South whom they have not seen for many years, makes a surprise visit. The couple are delighted to see him and insist that he stay with them for as long as he wishes. Harry has a charming, down-home manner, but his enigmatic and somewhat amoral presence brings trouble to a crisis that has been simmering in the family—especially as regards Samuel and his relationships with his parents, wife and elder brother, Junior.

Harry's presence threatens to break up Samuel's marriage and seems to be related to an illness Gideon develops over the course of three weeks. On a stormy night, the clash between the two brothers, while Samuel merely sits and the others tend to Gideon, erupts in full; the result of their clash results in Suzie getting accidentally slashed in the hand that requires a visit to the hospital.

Seemingly, the internal struggle that Samuel went through seems to wash away. The illness to Gideon proves ultimately purgative, though Harry's precise role remains ambiguous. Harry, in the midst of getting his things, slips on marbles that were accidentally dropped by Sunny and suffers a heart attack that leaves him dead on the kitchen floor for days.

Cast

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Production

The genesis of the film came from director Charles Burnett's failure to make a film for PBS about a young girl killed by ironic events, believing that "Thinking that it’s not real, so if [PBS] had any kind of input it wouldn’t be so tragic. I started to write it, and sent them different stages of it. And they brought in the same people, wanting to make it into their movie. The things that were cultural or specific about it, they wanted to take out. They wanted to make it “for the mainstream, so that everyone can understand it.” I said “that’s not the story; the story has to do with folklore, and the Black experience.” So we got into this huge argument again. So what the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—CPB—did was: they’d pay you after they approved a draft. You'd get involved with them, you'd get dependent on that check coming in, and they’d keep quizzing you on those changes. “Have you made those changes?” And you'd realize that the moment you made those changes, the check would come in the mail. Otherwise, you don't get it. They don't say it that way, but it comes out that way. So that became very difficult, and finally I said “I can’t make the changes that you want me to make; it’s not about that.” So we parted company, and they wrote a really nasty letter saying that I'm not a writer, and things like that. It was really awful! Then, this guy Cotty Chubb—he had been a friend of Michael Tolkin, who did The Player—called me out of the blue and said, “I hear you might be working on something; I’d like to see what you’re doing; I’m a producer.” I said “I have this script that no one wants,” and he said, “Bring it down.” So I dropped it off in his office." By the end of the movie, it had twelve producers behind it.[6]

Reception

The film has received critical acclaim.[7] On Rotten Tomatoes, To Sleep with Anger holds a rating of 93% from 105 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads: "To Sleep with Anger examines cultural tensions with a deft hand and a potent blend of comedy and drama, stirred skillfully to life by a strong cast led by Danny Glover."[8]

Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine called it a "neglected masterpiece of African-American cinema."[9] IndieWire's Brandon Wilson has called it Burnett's "other masterpiece," as well as numerous other favorable comparisons to Killer of Sheep, saying "Like all great art, To Sleep With Anger triumphs because it works both on a personal level... and it is provocative enough thematically to fuel hours of discussion about tradition versus modernity and how it has affected African-Americans, for better or worse... [Burnett]'s asking us to think about the generation gap, Christian faith versus backwoods mysticism, the grip of the past versus the pull of the present, African-American yearning for financial prosperity versus our sense of altruism & duty and complications within both sides of each coin."[10]

Roger Ebert gave it 2.5 out of 4 stars, and called it "too long" saying that "There are some good things in this movie, and too much time in between them".[11] Entertainment Weekly's Owen Glieberman called it "too ambitious" and said it "never finds a mood".[12]

Accolades

Year Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
1991 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards Best Film Nominated [13]
1991 Independent Spirit Awards Best Feature Caldecot Chubb, Thomas S. Byrnes and Darin Scott Nominated [14][15]
Best Director Charles Burnett Won
Best Screenplay Won
Best Male Lead Danny Glover Won
Best Female Lead Mary Alice Nominated
Best Supporting Female Ethel Ayler Nominated
Sheryl Lee Ralph Won
1992 NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Motion Picture Nominated [16]
Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture Danny Glover Nominated
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture Mary Alice Nominated
1990 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards Best Screenplay Charles Burnett Nominated [17]
1991 National Society of Film Critics Awards Best Actor Danny Glover Nominated [18]
Best Screenplay Charles Burnett Won
1990 New York Film Critics Circle Awards Best Actor Danny Glover Nominated [19]
Best Screenplay Charles Burnett Nominated
1990 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize Nominated [20]
Special Jury Recognition Won

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."To Sleep with Anger". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  2. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."To Sleep with Anger". Walker Art.
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."To Sleep with Anger". Video Detective.
  4. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."2017 National Film Registry Is More Than a 'Field of Dreams'". Library of Congress. December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2017.
  5. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."To Sleep with Anger". The Criterion Collection. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."School of Hard Knocks: Charles Burnett interview".
  7. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Brody, Richard (February 10, 2016). "The Front Row: "To Sleep with Anger"". The New Yorker.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."To Sleep With Anger (1990)". Rotten Tomatoes. September 23, 2025.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Bowen, Chuck (September 6, 2016). "Film Review: To Sleep with Anger". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wilson, Brandon (August 13, 2014). "Charles Burnett's Other Masterpiece 'To Sleep With Anger'". IndieWire. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ebert, Roger (October 26, 1990). "To Sleep With Anger Movie Review (1990)". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gleiberman, Owen (November 9, 1990). "To Sleep With Anger". EW.com. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Chicago Crix Laud 'Goodfellas'". Variety. January 20, 1981. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  14. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."6th Spirit Awards ceremony hosted by Buck Henry - full show (1986)". Film Independent. February 9, 2021 – via YouTube.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Charles Burnett". Oscars.org.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."New Restoration of Charles Burnett's 'To Sleep with Anger'". Film at Lincoln Center. July 28, 2016.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Mathews, Jack (December 17, 1990). "GoodFellas' Tops L.A. Critics Poll". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  18. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Natl. Critics Group Favors 'Goodfellas'". Variety. January 13, 1991. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."'Goodfellas' Is No. 1 in Film Critics Vote". The New York Times. December 19, 1990. Retrieved October 6, 2023.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."1990 Sundance Film Festival". sundance.org. Retrieved October 6, 2023.

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