VividSimon Simply Perfect

Console best movie i've ever seen.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

TRhett It's funny to me every time I read about a "modern" TV show/movie/etc. about racial/gender/class issues being "groundbreaking," because Norman Lear was doing some pretty brave "groundbreaking" as far back as the early 70's. "All in the Family" was arguably the greatest, most "realistic" (in TV terms) family sitcom EVER to grace TV (followed closely by "Roseanne"). As if AITF wasn't enough, "Maude" and her ahead- of-her-time politics spun out of that universe, as did "Good Times," which was the first sitcom to really show the gritty reality of lower- class American life since "The Honeymooners." Yes, there were stereotypes . . . yes, there was manipulative "button-pushing," yes, there was lots of "jive talking,'" but like Roseanne, at the heart of all that bravado was a family that REALLY loved and supported each other, and were trying desperately to reach that "American dream." Of course, it was usually futile, mainly because they wanted to keep the shows going, but ironically, it actually reflected the reality of the times . . . which is that unfortunately, that dream is just out of reach for many. But "Good Times" was so well-cast, well-acted, and well-staged (like a very good play), we could overlook its faults . . . because we cared about the characters. Esther Rolle and John Amos had great chemistry together, and the kids were also perfectly cast. I remember hearing things on this show that I had never heard before, like VD, teen pregnancy, the poor resorting to eating dog to survive, the constant struggle of the father figure to provide for his family . . . it just goes on and on. Things that we middle-class white Americans had NO idea of. And that opening - that HAS to be one of the greatest opening montages of images and theme music EVER (The Sopranos comes to mind as a contender). They just don't make 'em like that anymore. Although things began to slip once John Amos left (in one of those "I'm moving on to bigger and better things" mistakes that TV actors often make . . . assuming that a hit TV show is a sure road to super stardom, never to be heard from again except in minor, supporting bits), it was still one of the best of the 70's. So whenever you hear somebody talk about a "groundbreaking" TV show/movie, keep in mind that that ground was "broken" long ago . . .

Bellfire32 When they killed off John Amos's character they killed the show. He was the vital part of the info structure. You had a story of an inner city family's struggling to make it the best way they knew how. They were poor, they were black, and they were living proof that if you have Jesus and your family that nothing is too hard. Sure James would lose jobs and JJ would fail in school but the family always managed to find a way. James was the strong male role model that earned the income and disciplined the children. Florida was the strong lady that would everyone including James when he needed a shoulder to cry on or hug to make it. The kids had personalities and input which made them important as a family unit. Their neighbor Willona was also a key element because she represented not only a friend but some dear enough to be family. Things were bright, gritty, funny, and honest until they changed the course of the program. James dies and JJ took over the show. Flo was still mom, Thelma was blossoming into a lady and Michael was still the militant midget but JJ was the show. We were expected to believe that the family with no father or prominent bread winner was going to be able to stay in the apartment. I guess James's paycheck didn't do much for the family. They were only threatened with eviction because they said they were moving and not because no one in the house was working. I know that JJ, Flo, Thelma and even Michael eventually got jobs but come on here be for real. James worked so much that you could feel for him but the others weren't realistic at all and that's a shame.JJ was the comic relief but I felt the show need substance. It's OK to be funny but they had a chance to show a real family and what it took to survive in the real world and they threw it all away on a few laughs. Michael's character almost disappeared while the rest of the cast slipped into the shadows of the JJ Evan's show. I mean really, here was a guy that was failing in school, he kept getting laid off, and he painted for money in about two episodes. James had always been there to encourage his talent but Flo and the rest of the family didn't seem to care.Why did it take him so long to understand that painting was what he was meant to do? He could have sold painting's on the street or worked for people that print billboards and cards. (He did but something went wrong with that.) Why did he not make it and why did the others give up on their dreams? I'll tell you why, it was because they didn't have a father in their life to care and to cheer them on and their mother stopped being their to support their dreams. The show stopped teaching us about growing, building and learning and started teaching us about gimmicks and catch phrases. They should have kept James. If any show needed a father it was that one.

momohund This was what black society was like before the crack epidemics, gangsta rap, and AIDS that beset the ghettos in the eighties. Decent, hardworking families that struggled to get by and all the traumas and tribulations they faced. Black America was a different group of people in the seventies. Still full of hope and flying high on the civil rights movements of the sixties, times were hard but still worth fighting for. Keepin' your head above water, making a wave when you can, this show showed how black society struggled to work together as people and families, before they started to prey on each other and everyone else in order to survive the horrors of the ghettos. It is heart-breaking to see what the black ghettos were like then and what they have become now.

preppy-3 The lives and times of the Evans family living the projects of Chicago.I saw this on TV originally when I was a kid. Being a white kid from a suburban neighborhood I found the show quite disturbing. It WAS funny but they didn't soft peddle (too much) what it was like growing up in poverty. The language was tame, there was no violence and no sexual talk at all but it still addressed serious issues like racism, sexism, gang violence, death, living in poverty etc etc. It was all treated within the bounds of TV--but "All in the Family" and "Maude" were pushing the envelope of what could be said (and shown) on TV at that time so "Good Times" got away with some pretty hot issues.Seeing it again it still holds up...but I don't find the laughing at some REAL serious issues that funny anymore. Still they could probably only get it on TV that way back in the 1970s.The acting is mostly excellent. Esther Rolle is WAY too goody-goody as the mother--but she pulls it off. John Amos is loud, belligerent and obnoxious--just like a real father. Ralph Carter wasn't that good as the youngest Evans kid Michael--I was always aware he was acting. Jimmie Walker was profoundly annoying as JJ. Stanis was GREAT as the only girl--the insults she let loose as JJ were hysterical.The show started out well but when Amos left after the second season (purportedly over a salary dispute) the show fell apart. Obnoxious JJ (who acted like a TOTAL idiot) took center stage and it became "The JJ Show". Rolle quit in disgust but, after her complaining LOUDLY about JJ, she came back after a year. JJ was toned down considerably and acted more adult. Then next door neighbor Wilonna got Penny (Janet Jackson--yes THAT Janet Jackson) who wasn't needed and the show steadily fell apart. However Ben Powers was a welcome (and drop dead handsome) addition during the last season and it did all end happily with EVERYBODY getting out of the projects. Unbelievable but happy.Still the first two seasons are great and even the last few with Rolle are pretty good. But when it was JJ, Wilonna and the kids it was NOT good--just loud and stupid. So it's well worthing catching the first two seasons and last few.