A Rage in Harlem
1991.
Directed by Bill Duke, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Forest Whitaker, Gregory Hines, Robin Givens, Zakes Mokae, Danny Glover, Badja Djola.

A Rage in Harlem literally bursts onto the screen with an opening sequence that leaves you agape at its fresh mixture of action, comedy and drama. The movie is great fun and manages to tread all these narrative alleys and move at a fast-paced clip while juggling the various tones adeptly and creating a product that’s not easily classifiable. Based on a Chester Himes novel, A Rage in Harlem is set in Harlem of the 1950s and is rich in period details. In fact, if A Rage in Harlem has any noticeable problem, it’s only that there are too many wonderful characters chasing around this film and that you wish you could spend more time with each. The performances from this all-star cast are absolutely wonderful.

***½ 

This article appears in May 3 • 1991 (Cover).

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Marjorie Baumgarten is a film critic and contributing writer at The Austin Chronicle, where she has worked in many capacities since the paper's founding in 1981. She served as the Chronicle's Film Reviews editor for 25 years.