Constellation

PG-13

Released Feb 2, 2007

1h 45m

Drama

List

0%

Tomatometer

19 Reviews

40%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

The continuing legacy of a long-ago, interracial love affair forms the backdrop for a tale of an extended Southern family's reunion at a funeral. Helms Boxer (Billy Dee Williams) is estranged from his family and does not want to return home, but his deceased sister (Rae Dawn Chong) had named him executor of her estate. The family grapples with issues of forgiveness and unrequited love in the wake of their loved one's death.

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Critics Consensus

Though earnestly directed, Constellation lacks dramatic fireworks and eventually falls into TV-movie sentimentality.

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Melissa Anderson

Time Out

The flashbacks are almost as smoothly subtle as the title of one of the paintings showcased by Billy Dee Williams's character: Portrait of a Journey.

Rated: 2/6

Feb 10, 2007

Full Review

Scott Brown

Entertainment Weekly

Neither the camera nor the script can focus.

Rated: C

Feb 7, 2007

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Kyle Smith

New York Post

Scenes in which little or nothing happens pass by slowly, and the only point of suspense is whether the number of tearful hugs at the end will reach double digits.

Rated: 0/4

Feb 2, 2007

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Kam Williams

EURWeb

This overplotted, emotional dump plods along as if the characters are stuck in the cinematic equivalent of quicksand, never generating any traction because no matter how much everybody vents, nothing of consequence ever transpires.

Rated: 1/4

Feb 8, 2007

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Frank Lovece

Film Journal International

I'm nodding off just thinking about the long, static close-ups and endless scenes of people walking and sitting and doing nothing.

Feb 6, 2007

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Andy Klein

Los Angeles CityBeat

... the biggest problem is that the insights ... are strictly Hallmark TV movie stuff, an association reinforced by the mawkish visual style and score.

Feb 5, 2007

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Mark G

I plodded through hours of this and I just don't understand why on earth I kept going. It was utter turgidity. I'm not sure if that was a proper word and if it isn't, this is my gift to mankind. Constellation is the most turgid bit of TV I have watched for a long time. Having invested something like eight hours I had one episode left. Turgidity set in and I have given up and cannot be arsed to watch that final hour because I know it's just going to annoy the hell out of me. Good Lord Almighty.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/28/24

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Neil G

Gave it 3 episodes before calling it quits. Moments of intrigue wrapped with a ton of nonsense. Jumps around way too much and detracts from the story line. This is a perfect example of an artsy writer and director trying to show off how cool they are by creating garbage and applying a thick coat of lipstick on this pig to pass it off as a work of art. The bright side is that after watching 3 episodes, I know know what it's like to be stoned on heroin.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

02/25/24

Full Review

Audience Member

I think David Arnott did an outstanding job performing as an ordinary teen boy in key West in the 1970s. This is how boys acted in my neighborhood growing up. Not real demonstrative emotional thoughtful or expressive all the time. It's refreshing to see the the quiet tones of reality performance. Hollywood more often casts boys who are unusually expressive sensitive and brilliant and the result is an entertaining stimulating performance but not real. And those real boy performers often turn out to be gay... Not regular straight kids from the neighborhoods We all grew up in. It's interesting ...I read the director of this film also a cinematographer on the British film KES. That is a British film that has become a classic and in that film again they did reality casting for the kids and it made all the difference... they also didn't cast emotional creative Hollywood performers for the kid roles. They also cast real kids who were not always doing great performances but just being normal. . So David Arnott is the real deal ... the real teen boy in front of a camera, keeping it real.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

Very good cast & ancestral family movie

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

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Audience Member

It has moments, but the story suffers.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

a little confusing but all star class

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

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Jordan Walker-Pearlman

Director

Billy Dee Williams

Helms Boxer

Zoe Saldana

Rosa

Lesley Ann Warren

Nancy

Hill Harper

Errol

Melissa De Sousa

Lucy

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Synopsis

The continuing legacy of a long-ago, interracial love affair forms the backdrop for a tale of an extended Southern family's reunion at a funeral. Helms Boxer (Billy Dee Williams) is estranged from his family and does not want to return home, but his deceased sister (Rae Dawn Chong) had named him executor of her estate. The family grapples with issues of forgiveness and unrequited love in the wake of their loved one's death.

Director: Jordan Walker-Pearlman
Producer: Jordan Walker-Pearlman, Morris Ruskin, Shannon C. Murphy
Screenwriter: Jordan Walker-Pearlman
Distributor: The Bigger Picture
Production Co: DAWA Movies, Encounter Studios
Rating: PG-13 (A Sexual Reference|Brief Strong Language)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 2, 2007, Limited
Release Date (DVD): May 22, 2007
Box Office (Gross USA): $306.5K
Runtime: 1h 45m

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