The Women of Brewster Place (1989)

Based on Gloria Naylor's novel, THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE is the rare made-for-tv feature that provides numerous deeply drawn and affecting characters and entertains. Aided immeasurably by star turns from Oprah, Cicely Tyson, and, of course, Jackee, director Donna Deitch's intensely moving film is nothing less than a resounding success. Following the lives of seven women who live in a bleak tenement and struggle to rise above their surroundings, THE WOMEN OF BREWSTER PLACE succeeds both as an important reminder of the difficulties of being black and poor in America, and as a heartfelt and entertaining story about human determination in the face of adversity.