Their Eyes Were Watching God

As modern-day humans it comes as no surprise that we've managed to travel to the moon, eliminate racial segregation, correspond through the Internet or even make human clones of one another.

But when it comes to matters of the heart, few of us have actually succeeded at finding real love. When I heard Oprah Winfrey helped produce the novel-based (written by Zora Neale Hurston), made for TV movie, Their Eyes Were Watching God, (directed by Darnell Martin) featuring the one and only Halle Berry, I knew I couldn't miss it.

Unfortunately for me, I did miss the original airdate. No worries, I had the pleasure of watching it on DVD.

Before watching the highly anticipated film, I had already developed a sense of what I was about to experience. I had predicted the film was going to be yet another sad and lonely tale about a beautiful, young damsel who failed at finding real love. That's about as far as my thought-processes were willing to go.

Admittedly, Halle Berry was my primary motivation for viewing the film. Not only is she undeniably beautiful, she is also without question, a talented actress. Her appeal transcends all boundaries and limitations.

Berry's role as Janie Crawford, a young woman searching for herself, was not exactly glamorous. Set in the 1920's, for the better part of the film, she was either without make-up, covered in dirt from head-to-toe or with her hair tied up in a scarf. Let's just say even with a dirt-covered face, Berry managed to look breathtakingly, flawless. She would make any man look good, including the ones with whom she played housewife to.

Despite her two loveless marriages, Janie never allowed herself to settle for less. She valued her spirit by staying true to herself.

After the former town mayor and Janie's second husband passed on, she met Tea Cake (Michael Ealy). It was love at first sight and much more. Tea Cake and Janie fell hard for one another, but Tea Cake was twelve years Janie's junior. As the mayor's widow, the townspeople gossiped about Janie running off with a younger, less established man.

Some of Janie's girlfriends had also warned her about Tea Cake, claiming he would ultimately steal from her and eventually leave her. After a potential scare, Janie came very close to leaving Tea Cake. Even though Tea Cake was definitely not made of money, he promised Janie he would never leave.

One day while the couple went fishing, it began to rain. This was no small rainfall, the whole town flooded. Janie and Tea Cake made it out alive, but life was never the same. You'll have to watch to watch the movie to see what happens in the end.

Their Eyes Were Watching God was one of

the most profoundly moving love stories I've seen in quite awhile. It had all the elements to a beautifully crafted love story"”passion, heartache and the strength to follow one's heart (including a love scene between Janie and Tea Cake that created a lot of buzz on the Oprah Winfrey Show).

What I appreciated most about the film was its honesty. Janie endured a lot in each of her relationships, yet she never settled. She found comfort in knowing God (hence the title) was watching over her. So no matter how bad things got, she knew if she followed her heart, everything would be okay. Janie was a survivor.

In terms of the DVD itself, I was a little disappointed with the lack of deleted scenes or special features. I would have really enjoyed a glimpse into how the film got picked up, the production process or even some interviews. As a moviegoer and critic, I would strongly recommend people see this movie. In fact, I haven't stopped thinking about the film. For anyone that is presently searching for love, Their Eyes Were Watching God will definitely leave you feeling hopeful.

Movie Grade: A-

DVD Features Grade: D

Overall Grade: B