Shadrach Review

Shadrach, John Franklin Sawyer, is 99 years old; once a slave, he has walked 600 miles from Alabama to die on the farm in Virginia where he was born. It`s the 1930s, and Shadrach`s touching story unfolds from the perspective of 10-year-old Paul, Scott Terra, a youngster who regularly escapes his over-protective parents to hang out with the Dabneys, a scruffy, dirt-poor but extremely happy family. Vernon Dabney, Harvey Keitel, used to have property; his family owned the estate on which Shadrach was born; now he and his wife, Trixie, Andie MacDowell, manufacture bootleg whiskey to make ends meet, which puts them outside what law there is in this part of the country. While Paul and the rest of the Dabneys welcome the arrival of Shadrach, Vernon himself has reservations...First time director Susanna Styron based this attractive film on a story by her father, William Styron. It`s a simple, touching yarn about devotion and tenacity, enhanced by a lovely soundtrack of spiritual music and by Andie MacDowell`s best performance since sex, lies and videotape. Shadrach unfolds on a very small scale, but it`s a charmer.