My Eyes Were Watching Crud
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is a classic novel. However, classic is not equivalent to good. This Made-For-TV movie was even worse in my eyes.
Imagine the hype in that was caused when Oprah Winfrey announced that she was going to produce a movie starring Halle Berry. If the followers of Oprah and fans of Halle Berry had the same reaction I did, they were terribly disappointed. This had to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen.
The story follows Janie (Halle Berry) and her exploits with love and loss. It starts with her coming back to her home in Eatonville, (a bit fancy for a black town in the 1930’s) where she begins explaining her story to her friend Pheobe (Nicki Macheaux) from the beginning; meaning when she was a teenager.
At this point in her life, she kisses a man name Johnny Taylor (Jenson Atwood) but is spotted by her nanny (Ruby Dee) who quickly brings a stop to it and tells Janie she’s going to Logan Killicks. This happens immediately, without any argument or anything.
What seems like a day or two goes by when Janie meets Joe Starks (Ruben Santiago-Hudson), who says one of those lines that always seems to enthrall a woman in any movie, and she instantly falls in love with him. There was no development in the relationship.
She goes off with him the next day to the area we saw earlier; Eatonville. Joe basically rules this town and “oppresses” Janie. I say this lightly, because he didn’t seem to do anything all that bad. Long story short, Jody dies after about 20 years. Janie still doesn’t look a day older. She meets a man mentioned at the beginning named “Tea Cake” (Michael Ealy) and runs off with him.
All of these events seemed to happen way too fast. It seemed like every event happen in the course of a week. Many events from the book were removed, making other events that were left in confusing. To make up for this, the “brilliant” idea of having Halle Berry narrate the movie was created, and that just made the movie feel even more cheap. Had I not read the book, I don’t think I would know what was going on.
The sets, while nice looking, never fit what I pictured. Eatonville was too ritzy looking, swamp water was crystal clear and a town that should have looked destroyed looked like it had just been built. The main setting seemed to be in bedrooms, with scenes that made Janie look (pardon my French) like she was a whore. She was always doing something sexual.
None of the metaphors were used very well. The horizon was barely mentioned. You couldn’t tell that the pear tree meant anything. Janie constantly stated that she was “watching God.” Anyone who enjoyed the book should be insulted.
One thing is for sure; this was definitely not a theater movie.
Grade: F
