Last nite I watched The Wedding on abc produced by Oprah Winfrey and staring Halle Berry, Shirley Knight and Carl Lumbly of Alias.

Oscar-winner Halle Berry stars in a drama of exploding emotions in a wealthy African-American community on Martha's Vineyard, in Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding. This multi-layered story of young lovers deals with a multitude of complications in the stormy week before an elegant — and threatened — marriage ceremony. (Originally aired 2/22 & 23/1998)


The Wedding is based on the acclaimed novel by Dorothy West, the last surviving member of the flowering of African-American arts and letters known as "The Harlem Renaissance."


Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) is a young woman torn by questions of love and commitment, of racial pride and family secrets. She has only days to choose between two men — one a penniless white musician she is already engaged to marry, the other a successful and seductive black man who is determined to end that marriage before it begins.


Meade Howell (Thal), the white groom-to-be, is a stranger in this world of affluence. Gram (Shirley Knight), Shelby's grandmother, is the matriarch of the family; an unreconstructed survivor of the Civil War, the daughter of a slave-owner. She is concerned that each generation of the family be lighter than the last, and fully supports Shelby's marriage to Meade.


However as the wedding draws nearer, Shelby finds herself tempted by a dangerously charismatic black man, Lute McNeil (Carl Lumbly). Lute is fed up with his white wife and wants Shelby to be the next Mrs. McNeil. Lute is accustomed to getting what he wants.


Corinne and Clark (Lynn Whitfield and Michael Warren) are Shelby's parents. They married for social reasons, and have little to offer their daughter in the way of advice. Shelby's sister, Liz (Cynda Williams), ran away to marry a young doctor, Lincoln Otis (Richard Brooks). Lincoln was a little too dark in color and a little too rebellious in spirit to fit the family's mold. In doing so, Liz gave up the easy life and familiar support of the community. Now Shelby must decide if she wants to follow in the footsteps of her relatives.


I was very disappointed. For the amount of money that abc and Oprah wield, I'm sure they could have come up with a much better script.

I think Halle Berry is a very good actress, she hasn't earned "great" yet and projects like this don't do much to enhance her status.The dialog was poorly written and the story was so basic, trite and cliche driven. It seems like Oprah worked very closely with this production and wanted to use this TV show to "teach" and I think she is used to making things so simple that they sound puerile. That was the problem with this show, so simple that it made good actors look bad.

Simplicity is good in character development but I think simplicity works like a brick wall or wall paper pattern: the entire wall or pattern is built on simple patterns or individual bricks but yet the whole appears intricate. The show ended up with patchwork of bricks rather than a full wall.

The most fascinating character was that of the Great Grandmother, played by Shirley Knight, whose life was governed totally by appearances. A ignificant thread in the story is the story of her redemption and resolution. Knight was magnificent, you felt like you knew what she was thinking even when she didn't speak and you yearned to learn more about her. Her character had depth, or it may be more accurate to say that she gave depth to that character.

My criticism does not extend to the cinematography, I'm no expert at that and as a lay person, I think they did a fine job.