Product Description

Life in their Harlem hood is tough. With the deaths of their parents, the Bailey brothers face a series of challenges juvenile detention, Social Services, runaways, grand theft - they’re not sure they can overcome. But with a little luck, a lot of faith, and each other, miracles can happen. The N presents, Miracle's Boys, the first ever urban teen TV movie. Based on the award-winning novel by Jacqueline Woodson, Miracle's Boys revolves around three half-Latino American, half-African American, orphaned teenage brothers living in New York and their struggles to hold their family together. The drama reflects the everyday lives of the Bailey brothers: Lafayette (14 years old), Charlie (16 years old) and Ty'ree (20 years old). This drama was filmed completely on location in Harlem, USA and was directed by Spike Lee, LeVar Burton, Ernest Dickerson, Neema Barnette & Bill Duke and includes the acting debut of Tiki Barber and Jorge Posada featuring an original theme song by hip-hop megastar Nas. This will also be the first DVD release for The N/Noggin. It will include the complete 144 minute movie as well as a "Making Of" Special. It will not be released on VHS.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34940 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-11-08
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 133 minutes

Customer Reviews

Finally something new
A lot of people already know this story from the book but this mini series sheds a new light on it. The 3 part mini series is to good to be true so you know a lot of people have been asking that it be turned into a season series because of it's originality. The fact that it's not the same old TV show with the same conflicts and story lines definitely makes it stand out. It also has a stand up cast, The actor I respect most is Sean Nelson also known as Charlie in the show who would be most recognized from 1994's Fresh or 2005's Their eyes were watching god.

Nelson put in the fire and anger the show needed to keep it moving. If you don't know the story Miracle's Boys are about 3 brothers living in present day New York. The problem is that their mother who was the heart and back bone of the family died and right before her death her second eldest son Charlie was arrested for stealing and is sent to Juvenile hall. The oldest brother Ty'ree has to take care of his other teen brother Lafayette.

If that isn't bad enough Charlie is getting out and returns home with a huge attitude but nobody knows why. Miracle's boy is very interesting and will have viewers wanting more of a story after every episode even the last. I previewed this dvd and the picture and sound is excellent and it is also packed with extras and the making of Miracle's boys.

A Descent Movie is a "Miracle" these days...
This movie was original, creative, and interesting. You can definitely watch this with your family and learn a lot of lessons from it. It shows there's a way to convey a positive message wtihout violence, sex, drugs, and profanity. It shows we can be entertaining without resorting to those things, and that is "keeping it real".

Now I need to go and read the book now that I saw the movie.

Doesn't follow the book closely
I showed this DVD to my 7th grade students after we finished reading the book by Jacqueline Woodson. We took some time to talk about the differences between the book and the mini-series. Many of the students were surprised at some of the key elements from the book that were either left out or changed significantly in the making of the mini-series. For example, the issue of blame for the death of the boys' mother is such a strong feature in the novel but is completely left out of the mini-series. Another example is how the character of Aaron (Charlie's friend) is a bad influence in the book but appears to be a good, helpful friend in the mini-series. It was entertaining but the kids found some of the acting performances to be amateurish. The clothing, slang, and music seemed out-dated despite the fact that the mini-series is only a few years old. Overall, it was useful for a few comparison activities but not much else. Definitely not Spike Lee's best work.