Rent To Sleep with Anger (1990)

The South in His Pockets - To Sleep with Anger review by griggs

That opening image doesn’t leave you alone. Danny Glover in his Sunday best, fruit burning at his feet, perfectly still — Burnett tells you exactly what kind of film this is within two minutes, and you still don’t quite believe it.

Glover is the whole engine. Harry arrives into the Gaines household like a warm front that slowly turns — funny, easy company, the kind of guest who fills a room — and you’re won over well before the chill sets in. There’s a running joke about a neighbour trying to learn the trumpet, which Harry eventually uses as a kind of explanation of himself. Except it doesn’t quite explain anything.

Devil, trickster, symbol of the old South — Burnett never stipulates, rightly. What makes it sting is that Harry represents everything this family moved to California to leave behind, though what he actually wants is never made clear. The mix of the ordinary and the subtly wrong is what lingers. The whole thing moves like a slow blues song — which is either a strength or the reason the mid-section loses pressure it should be building.

Underseen doesn’t cover it. Slow to build, hard to shake.

Deservedly Critically Acclaimed - To Sleep with Anger review by CD

I had heard of this film as it was showing at the BFI in London last year in a retrospective and was highly rated. It is a truly atmospheric and beautifully acted film with Danny Glover as just one of many superb performances. As an extra bonus, the script is very good as is the music. My only criticism is that the film drags out a bit at the end. There is plenty of menace and growing tension in the film which ends in a key event (I will not spoil things if you have not yet watched the film) - after that there would be a case for a final scene and then the credits to roll. Overall however, highly recommended.