Always Outnumbered (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Michael Apted

Writers (WGA):

Walter Mosley (book)
Walter Mosley (teleplay)

Release Date:

21 March 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

An ex-con moves to L.A. to find work and creates a disturbance by fighting for a position. More importantly...

Plot Keywords:

African American | Harassment | Nursing Home | Racism | Ostracism

Awards:

1 win & 6 nominations

Cast

Laurence Fishburne	...	Socrates Fortlow
Daniel Williams	...	Darryl
Bill Cobbs	...	Right Burke
Natalie Cole	...	Iula Brown
Laurie Metcalf	...	Halley Grimes
Alan Wilder	...	Anton Crier
Cicely Tyson	...	Luvia
Bridgid Coulter	...	Corina M'Shalla
Bill Nunn	...	Howard M'Shalla
Isaiah Washington	...	Wilfred
Bill Duke	...	Blackbird Wills
Kevin Carroll	...	Pegus
Jamaal Carter	...	Phillip
John Toles-Bey	...	Stoney Wiley
Brooke Marie Bridges	...	Winnie M'Shalla

Also Known As:

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned (USA) (DVD title)
Socrates (USA) (working title)
Socrates Fortlow (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language, and some sexuality and violence.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Taiwan:R-12 | UK:15 | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

The cap that Socrates wears throughout the movie reads "90291", the zip code corresponding to the Los Angeles suburb of Venice (roughly 15 miles west of where this movie takes place). The M'Shalla family moves to Venice at the end of the movie after Howard gets a job offer there.

Soundtrack:

Play the Blues

Gilding the lily

Laurence Fishburne is superb as Socrates Fortlow in the HBO movie of Walter Mosley's adaptation of his first book of Fortlow stories. Mosley wove his stories together fairly well in the screenplay. The quest for a job, the serious undertaking of mentoring Darryl, dealing with the dealer/mugger and with the car-jacker are cinematic. Daniel Williams' portrayal of Darryl as a vulnerable discarded child who has to act tough is very, very good. The friendship with Right Burke (Bill Cobbs) is plausible, but having "Right" narrate the film seems unnecessary to me. We can see in Fishburne's performance the kind of many Socrates is without Right telling us how heroic he is.

The relationships with women are less convincing, or at least less compelling. I don't remember what Luvia (Cicely Tyson) has against Socrates. His relationship with Iula Brown (Natalie Cole) lacks chemistry (and screen time).