Dirty Laundry

I'm in Atlanta for Labor Day weekend and attended a sneak preview screening of the independent black film Dirty Laundry, written and directed by Maurice Jamal (The Ski Trip). The screening, sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, was held Saturday night at the Woodruff Arts Center and drew a near capacity crowd.

Click on the Dirty Laundry link above and see the trailer for this film. All I can say is PHENOMENAL! Stars include Loretta Devine (Boston Public, Dreamgirls, Crash), Rockmond Dunbar (Prison Break, Soul Food), Jennifer Lewis (Madea's Family Reunion, The Brothers), Terri J. Vaughan (The Steve Harvey Show), and Sommore (Soul Plane). Jamal also appears along with some young newcomers who are very, very good.

Produced on a budget of roughly $250,000, this film made me laugh, cry, jump up and down, snap my fingers, and bop my head more than films made on budgets 10 times as large. I give MAJOR props to Jamal who wrote a fantastic script that touched every emotion. His characters are deep and well developed and the actors do a great job of breathing life into them. This movie touched me in such a way that, at one point, I found myself wiping away tears for what seemed like 20 minutes, often at the same time I was laughing my ass off!

You MUST see this movie. Look for it in wide release in Spring 2007. And, as Maurice Jamal told his Atlanta audience Saturday night, "Y'all mutha (shut yo' mouth!), GO SEE IT ON OPENING WEEKEND!!!!"

Oh, Good Evening!