Tonight ABC premieres a film version of “Raisin,” featuring Sean “Puffy” Combs leading the same cast that appeared in the 2004 Broadway revival of the play. It’s a marvelous version of the story, which, like any great story, turns out to be timeless in ways you wouldn’t necessarily have expected. It’s easy to imagine how the film will have an aching resonance for African-Americans who watch it now.
As much as the play reflects Hansberry’s experiences in the ’30s, “Raisin” bears some resemblance to the current financial struggles of African-Americans, as the subprime mortgage crisis inches towards its apex. The bursting of the housing bubble threatens to impact black wealth disproportionately; some studies have shown that African-Americans are as much as four times as likely to be victimized by a subprime lender than their white counterparts, even those with similar incomes and credit scores.
The Youngers’ story isn’t identical to this, of course. As a matter of fact, in this “Raisin” the Youngers’ story isn’t even identical to the Youngers’ story; the play is fiddled with to the degree that the credits declare that it’s “based on” Hansberry’s play rather than a faithful version of it. But it hits all the main points: Walter (a better than expected Combs) is a chauffeur who shares a small, rundown apartment with wife Ruth (Audra McDonald), son Travis (Justin Martin), sister Beneatha (Sanaa Lathan) and mother Lena (a stellar Phylicia Rashad, who, like McDonald, won a Tony Award for her stage performance). When they receive a $10,000 insurance check following the death of the family patriarch, they are torn about how best to spend it. But Lena’s dream is to buy the family a home, which, then as now, is the core of the American dream.
When the family declares its interest in moving to Clybourn Park, an all-white suburban enclave, they get a visit from Karl Lindner (John Stamos), who purports to be the “welcome wagon” but in fact is quite the opposite. He’s trying to offer them money to keep out. Meanwhile Travis loses a portion of the family fund in an investment deal gone wrong. The Youngers are bound by their shared struggle, though, and are determined to achieve their dream of a better life.
The film is luminous and brisk, with credible performances and a particularly stunning turn by McDonald. But despite the quality of the film, there’s a certain cruelty to it now. It’s difficult to watch, given the degree to which the climate seems similar to what it was a half-century ago. “Raisin” is as important a watch as ever, but the context gives it a solemn edge.
