this movie be so badly write and direct and act that it beggar belief . it should be remake with a good script and director and casting service . the bad problem be the act . you have jennifer beals on the one hand who be polish and professional and totally believable and and on the other hand and richard and who be woefully miscast and just jarring in this particular piece . peter gallagher and jenny levine be just awful a the slave owning ( and keep ) couple and although both normally do fine work . the actor ( and director ) should not have attempt to do accent at all they be inconsistent and unbelievable . much good to have concentrate on do a good job in actual english . the casting be ludicrous . why have child of an african merchant ( thus less socially desirable to the gen de couleur society ) be cast with very pale skin actor and while the supposedly socially desirable marcel and have pronounce african feature and include an obviously dyed blond fro . it a if the casting director can not be bother to read the script they be cast and to choose appropriate actor from a large pool of extremely talented and physically diverse actor of color . it just so weird . this could be a great movie and should be re make and but with people who respect the material and can choose appropriate and skilled actor . there be plenty of good actor out there and and it would be fun to see how jennifer beals and daniel sunjata and gloria reuben would do with an appropriate cast and good script and decent direction .