![]() ![]() The first couple years of his life, he ain't had nobody. But as Lucky points out, she and Terry are both damaged.ĬATLETT: (As Lucky) Teenagers hate everybody, but I do sense a little void in him. Damaged people don't know how to love, she laments. And when she looks at her son, she feels she's failing. Inez deals with landlords intent on pushing families of color from Harlem's safe haven. MONDELLO: As that line hints, a gentrifying 1990s New York is an active character in "A Thousand And One." The era's racial profiling and stop-and-frisk policies make Terry's walk home from school a risk-filled gauntlet. But they're not breaking us up this time. TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) I'd go to war for you - you know that? - against this whole city. Rockwell shows her hemmed in, increasingly embattled. Inez, who struts with anxiety-tinged bravado as played by recording artist turned actor Teyana Taylor, hopes to finesse that. MONDELLO: Applications for college, of course, will require documents, a birth certificate, say, that could expose their secret. ![]() UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Have you thought about MIT, Harvard? But as the years pass, Terry, played by three actors at different ages, flourishes to the point that a school guidance counselor is urging him to dream big. The fact that she's kidnapped a ward of the state doesn't go away. MONDELLO: Still, Inez is a devoted, protective mom. TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) That's real easy for you to say because you get to be the saint while I'm stuck here fighting these wars all by myself. WILLIAM CATLETT: (As Lucky) I'm not about to sit here and argue with you. Yes, she can be abrasive and, with Lucky, combative. MONDELLO: She also enrolls him in school where, with her always pushing him to achieve what she didn't, he thrives. TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) Terry, I want you to meet Lucky. MONDELLO: In seconds, they're fugitives walking out of the hospital, couch surfing to avoid social services, then getting a cheap Harlem rental where Inez gives Terry a new name, new clothes. TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) Would it make you feel better if you came and stayed with me? MONDELLO: Inez sees the pain in his gaze and makes the sort of snap decision that's landed her in trouble before. TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) I don't know yet. ![]() I don't know where yet, but I'll see you soon. TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) I think they're going to move you. She visits him, and this time, he's more receptive, though his jumping means his situation will likely change. But a bit later, she learns that he's in the hospital after jumping out a window at his foster home. MONDELLO: Terry uses his friends as cover, and Inez doesn't press. ![]() TEYANA TAYLOR: (As Inez de la Paz) Just let me see your eyes so I know you're not mad at me. (SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "A THOUSAND AND ONE") Twenty-three-year-old Inez, who meets the world with swagger to spare, has just been released from Rikers Island when she spots her 6-year-old, Terry, who entered foster care when she went to jail. Critic Bob Mondello says it's sharply observed.īOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Brooklyn in the 1990s. It won the jury prize at this year's Sundance Film Festival. The movie "A Thousand And One" tells a tale of fierce maternal love under trying circumstances. ![]()
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