The Inkwell
Encyclopedia
The Inkwell is a 1994
romantic comedy
/drama
film
, directed
by Matty Rich
. This movie stars Larenz Tate
, Joe Morton
, Suzzanne Douglass
, Glynn Turman
, and Vanessa Bell Calloway
. The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard
in the summer of 1976.
), a shy 16-year-old from upstate New York
, when he and his family spend two weeks with affluent relatives on Martha's Vineyard. Drew's parents, Kenny (Joe Morton
) and Brenda (Suzzanne Douglass
), worry that their son is emotionally disturbed. His favorite companion is a doll with which he engages in animated conversations. They also fear that a fire he accidentally set in the family garage foreshadows a future as an arsonist.
On Martha's Vineyard, Drew is thrown into an affluent, party-loving black society that congregates on a beach known as the Inkwell. The visit is also the occasion of some bitter family strife. Drew's Aunt Francis (Vanessa Bell Calloway
) and her husband, Spencer (Glynn Turman
), are conservative
s whose walls are plastered with pictures of Republican
dignitaries. Kenny, a former Black Panther
, and Spencer argue furiously about racial issues.
The Inkwell follows Drew's bumbling pursuit of the insufferably snooty Lauren (Jada Pinkett Smith
). He also befriends Heather (Adrienne-Joi Johnson
), a young woman whose husband, Harold (Morris Chestnut
), is a faithless louse. The movie comes to an end on the Fourth of July
, when the Bicentennial
fireworks end up symbolizing not just America's
200th birthday but Drew finally losing his virginity with Heather.
, the paramedic character 'Doc' refers to summer vacations spent at "the Inkwell on the island", without describing precisely what he means.
1994 in film
1994 was a significant year in film.The top grosser worldwide was The Lion King, which to date stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated film of all time...
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy film
Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
/drama
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, directed
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
by Matty Rich
Matty Rich
Matty Rich, born Matthew Statisfield Richardson , is a film director and screenwriter who broke into the film world with the 1991 film Straight Out of Brooklyn which was financed by credit cards and donations. Rich also plays a major character in the film...
. This movie stars Larenz Tate
Larenz Tate
Larenz Tate is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, the son of Peggy and Larry Tate. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old...
, Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
, Suzzanne Douglass
Suzzanne Douglass
Suzzanne Douglas is an American film, television and stage actress, daughter of Lois Mae and Donald Douglas, Sr....
, Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman
Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
, and Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress who has appeared in a number of films, including Biker Boyz, Love Don't Cost a Thing, What's Love Got to Do with It, Coming to America, and Cheaper by the Dozen....
. The Inkwell is about a 16-year-old boy coming of age on Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
in the summer of 1976.
Plot summary
Set in the summer of 1976, the movie follows the adventures of Drew Tate (Larenz TateLarenz Tate
Larenz Tate is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, the son of Peggy and Larry Tate. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old...
), a shy 16-year-old from upstate New York
Upstate New York
Upstate New York is the region of the U.S. state of New York that is located north of the core of the New York metropolitan area.-Definition:There is no clear or official boundary between Upstate New York and Downstate New York...
, when he and his family spend two weeks with affluent relatives on Martha's Vineyard. Drew's parents, Kenny (Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
) and Brenda (Suzzanne Douglass
Suzzanne Douglass
Suzzanne Douglas is an American film, television and stage actress, daughter of Lois Mae and Donald Douglas, Sr....
), worry that their son is emotionally disturbed. His favorite companion is a doll with which he engages in animated conversations. They also fear that a fire he accidentally set in the family garage foreshadows a future as an arsonist.
On Martha's Vineyard, Drew is thrown into an affluent, party-loving black society that congregates on a beach known as the Inkwell. The visit is also the occasion of some bitter family strife. Drew's Aunt Francis (Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway
Vanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress who has appeared in a number of films, including Biker Boyz, Love Don't Cost a Thing, What's Love Got to Do with It, Coming to America, and Cheaper by the Dozen....
) and her husband, Spencer (Glynn Turman
Glynn Turman
Glynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
), are conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
s whose walls are plastered with pictures of Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
dignitaries. Kenny, a former Black Panther
Black panther
A black panther is typically a melanistic color variant of any of several species of larger cat. Wild black panthers in Latin America are black jaguars , in Asia and Africa they are black leopards , and in North America they may be black jaguars or possibly black cougars A black panther is...
, and Spencer argue furiously about racial issues.
The Inkwell follows Drew's bumbling pursuit of the insufferably snooty Lauren (Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
). He also befriends Heather (Adrienne-Joi Johnson
Adrienne-Joi Johnson
Adrienne-Joi Johnson , sometimes credited as A.J. Johnson, is an American actress, choreographer and fitness coach...
), a young woman whose husband, Harold (Morris Chestnut
Morris Chestnut
Morris L. Chestnut is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as teenage father Ricky Baker in the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, groom-to-be Lance Sullivan in the 1999 film The Best Man, as Tracy Reynolds, NBA star in the 2002 film Like Mike, and as the Visitor Ryan in the...
), is a faithless louse. The movie comes to an end on the Fourth of July
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
, when the Bicentennial
United States Bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to the historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic...
fireworks end up symbolizing not just America's
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
200th birthday but Drew finally losing his virginity with Heather.
Cast
The film is notable for featuring several cast members from the popular sitcom A Different World.- Larenz TateLarenz TateLarenz Tate is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Tate was born on the west side of Chicago, Illinois, the son of Peggy and Larry Tate. He is the youngest of three siblings whose family moved to California when he was nine years old...
as Drew Tate - Joe MortonJoe MortonJoseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
as Kenny Tate - Suzzanne DouglassSuzzanne DouglassSuzzanne Douglas is an American film, television and stage actress, daughter of Lois Mae and Donald Douglas, Sr....
as Brenda Tate - Glynn TurmanGlynn TurmanGlynn Russell Turman is an American stage, television, and film actor as well as a writer, director, and producer. He is perhaps best known for his roles as high school student Leroy "Preach" Jackson in the 1975 coming-of-age film Cooley High, math professor and retired Army colonel Bradford...
as Spencer Phillips - Vanessa Bell CallowayVanessa Bell CallowayVanessa Bell Calloway is an American actress who has appeared in a number of films, including Biker Boyz, Love Don't Cost a Thing, What's Love Got to Do with It, Coming to America, and Cheaper by the Dozen....
as Francis Phillips - Adrienne-Joi JohnsonAdrienne-Joi JohnsonAdrienne-Joi Johnson , sometimes credited as A.J. Johnson, is an American actress, choreographer and fitness coach...
as Heather Lee - Morris ChestnutMorris ChestnutMorris L. Chestnut is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as teenage father Ricky Baker in the 1991 film Boyz n the Hood, groom-to-be Lance Sullivan in the 1999 film The Best Man, as Tracy Reynolds, NBA star in the 2002 film Like Mike, and as the Visitor Ryan in the...
as Harold Lee - Jada Pinkett SmithJada Pinkett SmithJada Koren Pinkett Smith is an American actress, producer, director, author, singer-songwriter, and businesswoman. She began her career in 1990, when she made a guest appearance in the short-lived sitcom True Colors. She starred in A Different World, produced by Bill Cosby, and she featured...
as Lauren Kelly - Duane MartinDuane MartinDuane Martin is an American film and television actor.-Personal life:Martin was born in Dayton OH, and went to Dunbar High school and failed the 9th grade freshman year.Then met Tisha Campbell at the New York Liberty City Awards for the World records by doing backflips.-Career:Martin had a short...
as Junior Phillips - Mary AliceMary AliceMary Alice is an American actress.Alice was born Mary Alice Smith in Indianola, Mississippi, the daughter of Ozelar and Sam Smith. In 1987 she received a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her work in Fences...
as Evelyn - Phyllis Yvonne Stickney as Dr. Wade
- Markus RedmondMarkus RedmondMarkus Redmond is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Raymond Alexander, in the comedy-drama series Doogie Howser, M.D. co-created by Steven Bochco. Redmond joined the cast at the start of the show's second season in 1990 until the series ended in 1993. He worked with Bochco again...
as Darryl - Perry MoorePerry MooreWilliam Perry Moore IV , also known as Perry Moore, was an American author, screenwriter, and film director...
as Moe - Akia Victor as Charlene
- Special Appearance from the R&B group [JADE]
In popular culture
In the 2000 episode "Men" of the series Third WatchThird Watch
Third Watch is an American television drama series which first aired on NBC from 1999 to 2005 for a total of 132 episodes, broadcast in 6 seasons of 22 episodes each....
, the paramedic character 'Doc' refers to summer vacations spent at "the Inkwell on the island", without describing precisely what he means.
External links
- The African American Heritage Trail of Martha's Vineyard including the Inkwell Beach