Audiences got a glimpse of what work camps were like in "The Grapes of Wrath" which was set in California. This TV movie takes the audience down to Florida to the not quite angelic Angel City, a horrific Work Camp run by Mitchell Ryan who basically treats the migrant workers as slaves, locking them in at night and charging them for every little thing including unwanted bottles of cheap wine. Papa Ralph Waite, having lost his farm in the mountains of West Virginia, makes the mistake agreeing to work there, thinking that by picking vegetables and working hard he can make a lot of money to get his family out of there as quickly as possible. But that's not the case here. He finds when he goes to get paid that he's got a huge bill and when he tries to leave, they kidnap his young daughter (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and turn her into something extremely horrible and unmentionable.
With a pregnant wife (Jennifer Warren), another son and a cute little dog, Waite is as honorable as they come. He befriends next door neighbor Paul Winfield who seems shocked that a white man trusts him and even wants to go into business with him. Certainly when an unspeakable event occurs, the immigrants and other black workers are there for him and his family, and when everybody has had enough, they follow his lead in an effort to escape Hell City.
The exploitation of these human beings is a disgusting thing to watch, and perhaps it is wrapped up too neatly, but the way it builds really grips you and the performances are all outstanding. Ryan, a great actor at playing villains, is truly despicable here, and he is surrounded by the most horrific crew possible who do his every whim, even threatening the other migrant workers to lie in his favor when the law shows up. There is a great song, "I'm Going Home" at the end, and a violent twist that the excellent Winfield must prevent from happening. This is life as we'd like to believe it is. People in bad situations triumphing against the bad people trying to keep them down, and that makes it truly uplifting.
With a pregnant wife (Jennifer Warren), another son and a cute little dog, Waite is as honorable as they come. He befriends next door neighbor Paul Winfield who seems shocked that a white man trusts him and even wants to go into business with him. Certainly when an unspeakable event occurs, the immigrants and other black workers are there for him and his family, and when everybody has had enough, they follow his lead in an effort to escape Hell City.
The exploitation of these human beings is a disgusting thing to watch, and perhaps it is wrapped up too neatly, but the way it builds really grips you and the performances are all outstanding. Ryan, a great actor at playing villains, is truly despicable here, and he is surrounded by the most horrific crew possible who do his every whim, even threatening the other migrant workers to lie in his favor when the law shows up. There is a great song, "I'm Going Home" at the end, and a violent twist that the excellent Winfield must prevent from happening. This is life as we'd like to believe it is. People in bad situations triumphing against the bad people trying to keep them down, and that makes it truly uplifting.