Customer Reviews

Ritual

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ritual is an in depth study of a successful but dysfunctional black family. It shows what can happen when favoritism is allowed to fester in a family and the resultant sibling rivalry. Especially when there is either a perceived or actual wide diaparity between the talents of the siblings. The acting is absolutely superb. I recommend it highly. It should be in everyone's video library. No drugs or violence, at least not the garden variety. However, there was a fatal editing error in judgement. Be forewarned; there is a thirty second scene that could have and probably should have been edited out. The movie would have lost nothing, but it would have gained a much wider audience. This movie is hard to find for that reason. The inclusion of the scene has given this movie an unrated rating. It could even be rated X. What a pity. Such wonderful acting. The best that I have seen....ever! for an acting ensemble. I have seen it at least eight times. I can't get enough of it. See it!!!!

I watched this moving while finishing my book and couldn't really catch the meaning behind it. I watch a second time with no distractions and I was very impressed by this movie. I have to say that I wasn't really a fan of the brother and sister doing the nasty, but overall, it was a good movie. I also agree with a previous viewer when they stated that that sibling incest could have been left out and the movie would have still remained a great movie.

I saw this movie last weekend. It was well acted and quite moving. It shows that success and fulfillment are not always synonymous, and affluence does not insulate you from pain. I recommend it.

I'm a huge black cinema DVD collector, and this movie was actually quite interesting. If you take the movie for face value, you're going to miss a very important message. If you watch the movie carefully and really listen to the dialogue---there is a unique message to be shared.

I'd recommend it: just don't watch it with family---there are elements that will throw everyone into a tizzy.

This a "family-type" movie which has some not so unusual undertones, a daughter who has great desires to replace her mother in the eyes of her father, a mother who understands what is going on but refuses to acknowledge it by drinking herself into a stupor and a father who is strong-willed, determined to mold his son in his image, a son who refuses. The beauty in it is when the whole situation boils over and the mother takes charge.

In the vein of Tennessee Williams, Stanley Bennett Clay's Ritual is an exercise in character study. The Becker clan are characters on the brink. The parents and their offspring in this film are flawed, filled with emotion, and locked in the frustration of straining for something beyond reach. The impending doom for the Becker family seeps into your lungs like dust from a room that hasn't been cleaned in decades. SBC had a distinct and defined vision for his plays and the style in which he wanted to present them. Shawn Michael Howard is restrained in his portrayal of Mason. Denise Nicholas is well aware of her surroundings as Sylvia but is impotent when it comes to her daughter Angelle Brooks' Terri.

Just as the cover reveals, this is a family portrait with a broken glass. The acting was quite good but sometimes the characters were annoying, especially the daughter. I'd be embarrassed to watch this with anyone in my family. There is a very vivid and troubling incest scene in the movie that just should have remained on the cutting room floor.

There was a scene in which I feel could have been left out, and the movie would have been fine. I subtract a star for that. The other star I subtract is because Angelle Brooks is not a very convincing actress. Denise Nicholas is awesome and so is Clarence Williams III. So the three stars are for the veterans that you can only recognize.

Now this was a deep movie that had me saying "whoa" quite a few times. Unfortunately, it goes on.

I have watched this movie several times. The acting was great and it showed that you never know what goes on behind closed doors. Most of our households have problems and in order to get through them, we have to talk about them and work them out. This one had a twist that was unexpected. You will enjoy it.