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To Sleep with Anger is a 1990 American black comedy film written and directed by Charles Burnett.[1][2]

To Sleep with Anger
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Charles Burnett
Written by	Charles Burnett
Produced by	Caldecot Chubb Thomas S. Byrnes Darin Scott
Starring	Danny Glover Paul Butler Mary Alice Carl Lumbly Vonetta McGee Richard Brooks Sheryl Lee Ralph
Cinematography	Walt Lloyd
Edited by	Nancy Richardson
Music by	Stephen James Taylor
Distributed by	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Release date	October 12, 1990 (1990-10-12) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$1,161,135

In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[3] It had a remastered home media release from the Criterion Collection on February 26, 2019.[4]

Plot

Gideon (Paul Butler) and his wife, Suzie (Mary Alice), live in South Central Los Angeles, though they retain some of their rural southern ways, including raising chickens in the backyard. Harry (Danny Glover), a longstanding friend from the South who they have not seen for many years, makes a surprise visit.[5] The couple are delighted to see him and insist that he stay with them for as long as he wishes. Harry has a charming, down-home manner, but his enigmatic and somewhat amoral presence brings to a crisis trouble simmering in the family—especially as regards the younger son, Samuel or "Babe Brother" (Richard Brooks), and his relationships with his parents, wife, and older brother, Junior (Carl Lumbly).

Harry's disruptive and even corrupting presence threatens to break up Samuel's marriage and seems to be related to the illness that puts Gideon in bed for a couple of weeks, but is ultimately purgative: Gideon's extended family is more cohesive as a result of Harry's visit. Samuel and Junior struggle over a knife in a climactic fight during a storm, which ends in Suzie sustaining a wound. During a long wait in the emergency room, the storm clears, and the simmering anger that Harry seemed to bring to a boil is also dissipated. Harry's death just before the end of the film suggests, ambiguously, that he has been to a degree a self-sacrificing savior of the family.

Cast

• Danny Glover as Harry
• Paul Butler as Gideon
• Mary Alice as Suzie
• Carl Lumbly as Junior
• Vonetta McGee as Pat
• Richard Brooks as Babe Brother
• Sheryl Lee Ralph as Linda
• DeVaughn Nixon as Sunny
• Reina King as Rhonda
• Cory Curtis as Skip
• Paula Bellamy as Mrs. Baker
• Wonderful Smith as Preacher
• Ethel Ayler as Hattie
• Beverly Mickins as Neighbor
• Jimmy Witherspoon as Percy
• Julius Harris as Herman

Reception

The film has received positive acclaim.[6] As of August 2020, To Sleep with Anger holds a rating of 88% from 32 reviews with the consensus: "To Sleep with Anger examines cultural tensions with a deft hand and a potent blend of comedy and drama, stirred skillfully to life by a strong cast led by Danny Glover."[7]

Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine called it a "neglected masterpiece of African-American cinema."[8] IndieWire's Brandon Wilson has called it Burnett's "other masterpiece," as well as numerous other favorable comparisons to Killer of Sheep, saying "Like all great art, To Sleep With Anger triumphs because it works both on a personal level... and it is provocative enough thematically to fuel hours of discussion about tradition versus modernity and how it has affected African-Americans, for better or worse... [Burnett]'s asking us to think about the generation gap, Christian faith versus backwoods mysticism, the grip of the past versus the pull of the present, African-American yearning for financial prosperity versus our sense of altruism & duty and complications within both sides of each coin."[9]

Roger Ebert, however, called it "too long" in a mixed review (2.5/4).[10] Christopher Null called it "insanely over-rated" and gave it 2/5 stars ("weak").[11] Entertainment Weekly's Owen Glieberman called it "too ambitious" and said it "never finds a mood".[12]

Accolades

Year	Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
1991	Chicago Film Critics Association Awards	Best Film	To Sleep with Anger	Nominated
1991[13]	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Feature	Caldecot Chubb, Thomas S. Byrnes and Darin Scott	Nominated
		Best Director	Charles Burnett[14]	Won
		Best Screenplay		Won
		Best Male Lead	Danny Glover	Won
		Best Female Lead	Mary Alice	Nominated
		Best Supporting Female	Ethel Ayler	Nominated
			Sheryl Lee Ralph	Won
1992	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Motion Picture	To Sleep with Anger[15]	Nominated
		Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Danny Glover	Nominated
		Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Mary Alice	Nominated
1990	Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Screenplay	Charles Burnett	Nominated
1991	National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Danny Glover	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Charles Burnett	Won
1990	New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actor	Danny Glover	Nominated
		Best Screenplay	Charles Burnett	Nominated
1990	Sundance Film Festival	Grand Jury Prize	Charles Burnett	Nominated
		Special Jury Recognition		Won

References

External links

• To Sleep with Anger at IMDb
• To Sleep with Anger at AllMovie
• To Sleep with Anger at Box Office Mojo
• To Sleep with Anger at Rotten Tomatoes
• To Sleep with Anger: You Never Know What’s in the Heart an essay by Ashley Clark at the Criterion Collection

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