Kerry Washington Our Song [VHS]
The sweet joy and bitter anguish of contemporary teen life is movingly explored in this \'remarkable (The New York Times) coming-of-age tale set in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. Breathtaking (L.A. Weekly) and astonishing (The Washington Post), Our Song delves deep inside the complex lives of three girls who, despite all the odds, discover the indomitable spirit that survives within them. Late summer finds inner-city best friends Maria, Joycelyn and Lanisha at a crossroads. Though once inseparable, they drift apart when their high school abruptly closes and Maria discovers she\'s pregnant. As Joycelyn rejects school for a paycheck and Lanisha opts to continue her education, each girl must chart a new course for herself but can their friendship survive?In Our Song, director Jim McKay takes the same concerns as in his debut, Girls Town--friendship, poverty, and suicide--and crafts a superior film. While Girls Town felt like a somewhat privileged look at underprivileged life, Our Song feels as if it were written by the young women themselves: Lanisha (Lift\'s Kerry Washington), Joy (Anna Simpson), and Maria (Melissa Martinez). In fact, the trio really was involved with Brooklyn marching band the Jackie Robinson Steppers when McKay recruited them to star in this Michael Stipe-produced effort, and the marching sequences in the film provide a rousing counterpoint to the difficulties with which the girls are grappling. When one of the 15-year-olds discovers she\'s pregnant, already-frayed relationships are strained to the breaking point. Our Song always rings true and is all the more admirable--and affecting--for its refusal to conform to the conventions of most Hollywood teen movies. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
