Rating: PG
Genre:
Drama
Release Date: 08/31/1999
SubTitles: English/Espanol/Por/KO/TH
Dubbed: English/Espanol
Sound: DDS
Run Time: 101 Minutes
Flags: Violence, Adult Situations, Questionable for Children, Adult Language
Distributor/Studio: Columbia TriStar
Inspired by the
Herman Melville novel
Billy Budd, writer
Charles Fuller created the Pulitzer Prize-winning
A Soldier's Play, which he then adapted into this film drama in 1984, for socially conscious, liberal director
Norman Jewison. In the racially-divided 1940s, Fort Neal, Louisiana, is a military base where black soldiers are sent not to fight in WWII but to play baseball against other armed forces teams. The murder of a black sergeant, Waters (
Adolph Caesar) brings an investigator, Captain Davenport (
Howard E. Rollins, Jr.) to the base. Davenport, the first black officer that most of the men have ever met, suspects that a pair of white men were responsible for Waters' death, but his probe reveals that nearly everyone, regardless of skin color, had ample reason to kill the loathsome but pitiable Waters. The cast of
A Soldier's Story features early supporting performances from several African-American actors who would go on to greater prominence, including
Denzel Washington,
David Alan Grier, and
Robert Townsend. The film was nominated for three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Caesar) and Best Adapted Screenplay.
~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
