The Piano Lesson

PG

1995

1 hr. 35 min.

Drama

List

Reviews

76%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

Boy Willie (Charles Dutton), a sharecropper, travels to Pittsburgh in the 1930s hoping that his sister, Berniece Charles (Alfre Woodard), will let him have the piano that their enslaved uncle engraved in pre--Civil War Mississippi. Willie hopes to parlay proceeds from selling the instrument into ownership of the land his uncle once worked. But when Berniece has other ideas, it becomes clear that the piano represents very different things to the siblings.

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Audience Member

Excellent cast & storyline.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Where the 2000s have been dealing with Tyler Perry's terrible "black cinema", this made for television film is a superbly acted and well made drama about life as an African American in the 1930s. Even though it isn't perfect this film works as a period piece and as a current piece.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

Some of the plot elements are completely ridiculous and over dramatic, but The Piano Lesson is saved by its competent actors and underlying family unity theme.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

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Audience Member

Excellent cast & storyline

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

A great play about one black family and their different feelings about the past and the importance of a particular piano. A great cast headed by Alfre Woodard and Charles Dutton.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

towards the end it's a bit weird but alright for the most part.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/26/23

Full Review

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Lloyd Richards

Director

Charles S. Dutton

Boy Willie

Alfre Woodard

Berniece Charles

Carl Gordon

Doaker

Tommy Hollis

Avery

Lou Myers

Wining Boy

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Aug 1, 2005

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Sarah Chauncey

Reel.com

Rated: 4/5

Jun 8, 2004

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Jamie Gillies

Apollo Guide

There is an element of magical realism to this story, not unlike Toni Morrison's Beloved, and that comes across well.

Rated: 70/100

Jun 19, 2003

Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

Passionate screen adaptation of August Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about two siblings forced to clarify their values about tradition, money and desire.

Aug 30, 2002

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Synopsis

Boy Willie (Charles Dutton), a sharecropper, travels to Pittsburgh in the 1930s hoping that his sister, Berniece Charles (Alfre Woodard), will let him have the piano that their enslaved uncle engraved in pre--Civil War Mississippi. Willie hopes to parlay proceeds from selling the instrument into ownership of the land his uncle once worked. But when Berniece has other ideas, it becomes clear that the piano represents very different things to the siblings.

Director: Lloyd Richards
Executive Producer: Craig Anderson, Richard Welsh
Screenwriter: August Wilson
Production Co: Hallmark Hall of Fame Productions, Craig Anderson Productions, Hearst Entertainment, Signboard Hill Productions
Rating: PG, TV-PG
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English

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