Strong Performances Put Over Modest Biopic

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

The low-budget semi-biographical movie “The Least Among You” made the rounds of film festivals in 2009. It never got a commercial theatrical distribution but came out on DVD from Lionsgate about a month ago, and does not currently have a BluRay edition. Set during the mid-1960s, it’s a picture with a familiar message but one that always seems to remain timely, and its good cast keeps the script from appearing too heavy-handed.

Cedric Sanders stars as “Richard Kelly,” an ambitious young black man in 1965 hoping for a career in corporate America. But after he’s mistakenly arrested during the Watts riots, he reluctantly accepts a plea bargain that would set him free on probation if he spends a year at an all-white theological seminary whose president (William Devane) hopes to bring it up to date in both technology and the new trend toward racial integration.

Needless to say, Kelly meets up with deep-seated prejudice among many of the supposedly Christian young men, and finds support from the Texan roommate he most expected to be bigoted. He gets mixed messages from the school’s sole female teacher (Lauren Holly), a conflicted former missionary with her own unresolved issues. Kelly finds his only real solace in Samuel, the school’s gardener/janitor (Louis Gossett, Jr.), who soon becomes an influential mentor with his low-key philosophy.

Between classes and campus activism, one thing leads to another, and ultimately a climactic confrontation. As one would expect from this sort of movie, the protagonist ultimately discovers his inner faith and is moved to continue at the seminary for a career as a pastor rather than pursuing his original secular business aspirations. It’s all competent, occasionally quite effective, but overall very predictable.

The script was inspired by the true story of a Presbyterian minister who worked with prison inmates and later went on to teach at a seminary, so there is no question how it will turn out. However, the acting, especially by Gossett throughout and a couple of scenes by Holly, is able to draw the viewer into the humanity of situations that otherwise may seem merely a setup for sermonizing. Sanders is also very good, and Devane gives an uneasy ambiguity to a character that could easily have been played as a caricature.

Some of the rougher episodes in Kelly’s life back in the slums have been sanitized (you can sometimes see where dialogue has been redubbed) so the film can be shown to family audiences (there’s even a “Family Approved” logo on the DVD box). This is probably to encourage sensitive religious parents to screen the movie for their children or at schools and church groups, but for those audiences this movie is likely preaching to the choir. The movie would arguably reach a wider, more mainstream audience, and with far greater impact if it did not pull its punches in some of the unsavory aspects of its plot.

The movie is also a bit vague in several of the subplots and secondary characters, and might be more effective if they’d been fleshed out; particularly scenes of Kelly’s childhood, his father, and his best friend. This is partly the fault of the script, but a few of the deleted scenes included on the disc add interesting background material that helps develop characters and motivations. These all might well have been included, since the movie’s running time is only 97 minutes.

“The Least Among You” was shot on hi-definition video in a “scope” aspect ratio and the transfer to DVD looks reasonably good, if usually soft in long shots. The Dolby Digital stereo soundtrack is fine, including a few directional stereo sound effects.

There is unfortunately no audio commentary, but a few featurettes provide some of the information a commentary would likely cover. The longest is an interview with the Rev. Dr. Charles Marks, whose life story inspired the script. He relates his personal experiences and discusses how the movie handles them. There’s also a short behind-the-scenes featurette, and interesting interviews with the editor and the composer of the score, all interspersed with clips from the movie. Four deleted scenes help expand certain portions of the story, and it would have been nice if they had been included with a seamless-branching option so the longer cut could be viewed intact.

It probably will never find a mass audience, but for most viewers, “The Least Among You” is worth a rental, thanks to the strong performances and some thoughtful moments.

THE LEAST AMONG YOU on DVD: Movie: B- / Video: A- / Audio: A / Extras: C+

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