150 Word Review: 'Eve's Bayou' (1997)
Family drama
Eve’s Bayou is like waking up from a nap in the middle of summer: you’re sweaty, heavy, and for a moment, you can’t tell if you’re awake. Director Kasi Lemmons’ Southern-fried soap opera follows the youngest daughter of a philandering country doctor, Dr. Louis Batiste. She is close to her mother, Roz, who suffers quietly.
Lynn Whitfield is radiant as Roz. Samuel L. Jackson stars as Batiste, both charming and frustrating, a big man in a small town. The vibe is Tennessee Williams meets the Creole community of the Deep South, specifically one well-to-do family. As Eve, the youngest daughter/narrator, Jurnee Smollett is exceptional, as is Meagan Good as her fragile sister. Debbie Morgan shines as Louis’s psychic sister, Mozelle. This is a story about the power of desire, and the ways it destroys and saves people. Lemmons keeps the drama grounded, but there are ghosts just out of view.