Shadrach

(Columbia TriStar)

Based on a short story by William Styron, and directed by his daughter Susanna, Shadrach is set in Depression-era Virginia, where 99-year-old former slave Shadrach arrives at the door of Vernon (Harvey Keitel) and Trixie Dabney (Andie MacDowell), the descendants of his former masters, after walking all the way from Alabama. The story raises tough questions about the legacy of slavery for both whites and blacks, but it goes soft with lapses into sentimental images of kids playing and the family's glee in outwitting the police.