Cadence (1991)

Very well executed

Don't listen to the negative reviews

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Plot summary: a group of racist blacks beat and rob a white soldier and then, when he doesn't narc them out, accept him with great reluctance. This is what happens when Hollywood white guilt takes steroids.The acting is pretty good, but this is a classic example of black -on - white racism disguised as a morality tale about the evils of white - on - black racism. It's also the worst of the worst in the category of 'let's have us some black folk teach a white kid how to dance.' Shoot me now. Please, do it. I beg you. Laurence Fishburne musta been either really angry or really desperate, to tag this dog onto his otherwise impressive resume.

This reserved little drama stars Charlie Sheen as the lone white prisoner in a 1960s army stockade. Initially apprehensive toward his new roommates, he soon becomes one of them, much to the chagrin of the racist Master Sergeant, played by dad Martin Sheen. Rather than give in to the sarge, the younger Sheen continues to stand his ground, which only further frustrates his superior.The younger Sheen, who delivers one of his best performances as the troubled private, is surrounded by an able cast that includes Laurence Fishburne and Michael Beach. The story is captivating at times, but unravels at others, particularly during the climax when the elder Sheen loses control. There just wasn't enough buildup to make his bullet-spewing outburst believable.Still, CADENCE is overall a quality picture that deserved more than its status as one of the big box office stinkers of 1990 (it only grossed $173,601 its opening weekend and just over $2 million overall).CAST NOTE: Brent Stait, who has a brief role near the end as a psych ward MP, is best known for his role as Rev Bem on the T

...although i've seen a lot of movies, many of them that are not so famous and didn't get any awards and they weren't even nominated and many of them impressed me very much...some of them with shocking themes and impressive emotions and ideas to send to the audience and they are really worth to be seen!!! cadence is not a highly rated movie, is not an Oscar movie and it's not a shocking movie..it's not everything i have been expecting,;it's not one of the best and it's not something people mention about on forums (like save private Ryan for example) but for me is that kind of movie!!! it's so special...something that one could not describe..it's beyond really because what happens there is not to be seen...you just have to feel!! that's why this movie impressed me...it;'s about inner feelings and about making friends...although nothing spectacular happens..it's not an action or comedy movie..it's something that could happen to all of us...it's about moral values that stand before any other society values that are imposed by others!to have the power to stand up for yourself to make your own choices and your one friends!!!things that now are not important to you and people who don't mean a thing to you one day could mean everything...they could be your world and just when u don't realize u'll know you are as human as all the other nationalities(black)... so , in my opinion, this movie is about feelings, the things u stand for and and making friends among others u feel rejected and finding your place in many people's heart!! it's hard to do that..but it's even hard to keep it!

When the five comrades of Private First Class Franklin Bean (Charlie Sheen) with Roosevelt Stokes (Laurence Fishburne) in front make the soul-march, which refers to a locomotive, Bean does not know what happens to him. He cannot step with them! In fact the racial tension in the prison with a majority of five blacks come to the surface at the end of the movie in a tragic way. But Master Sergeant Otis V. McKinney (Martin Sheen) is right when he asks Bean to call him sergeant every time when a subordinate answers to him. There are only officers at the trial in this movie; but it is the colonel who gives Bean permission to work on the windmill and from that moment on the unexpected happens: Bean and his five comrades form a team, something McKinney cannot appreciate. At the end they commit insubordination when McKinney triumphantly comes up with an order that the windmill is a forbidden domain. Private First Class Harold Lamar (James Marshall), in fact a corporal, does everything what his superior McKinney asks from him but at the end he will not be awarded for this and neither will Bean be rewarded for saying the truth at the trial. The criminal background of the six prisoners is not very clear: are they really criminals who have committed those serious crimes that McKinney claims? This is important while it gives another description of the black prisoners and it allows in any circumstances for McKinney to be severe. Bean does not accept a proposition for friendship from McKinney, but it is not clear why McKinney should want to settle peace with a simple private. After all, he is in charge of the military camp.