A Lesson Before Dying
“A young man's destiny becomes a teacher's journey.”
In the 1940s South, an African-American man is wrongly accused of the killing a a white store owner. In his defense, his white attorney equates him with a lowly hog, to indicate that he didn't have the sense to know what he was doing. Nevertheless convicted, he is sentenced to die, but his godmother and the aunt of the local schoolteacher convince school teacher go to the convicted man's cell each day to try to reaffirm to him that he is not an animal but a man with dignity.
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Cast
29 people
Don Cheadle
Grant Wiggins
Known for
Iron Man 3
Crash
Cicely Tyson
Tante Lou
Known for
The Help
Fried Green Tomatoes
Mekhi Phifer
Jefferson
Known for
Lie to Me
8 Mile
Irma P. Hall
Miss Emma
Known for
The Ladykillers
Collateral
Brent Jennings
Reverend Ambrose
Known for
Moneyball
Witness
Lisa Arrindell
Vivian Baptiste
Known for
Madea's Family Reunion
Big Momma's House 2
Dana Ivey
Edna Guidry
Known for
Two Weeks Notice
The Addams Family
Frank Hoyt Taylor
Sheriff Guidry
Known for
Rectify
Outer Banks
Stuart Culpepper
Henri Pichot
Known for
Norma Rae
Night Shadows
Von Coulter
Farrell Jarreau
Known for
Drumline
Elijah Kelley
Clarence
Known for
Star
Hairspray
Wynton Yates
Louis Washington
Also in
Mama Flora's Family
Joseph Sargent Director · Ernest J. Gaines Author Ernest Troost Composer
United States release January 25, 2000 · Produced in United States · Production Ellen M. Krass Productions, HBO Films
Production
Spanky Pictures
Production
Ellen M. Krass Productions
Production
HBO Films
Production · Studio
United States
Produced in
Languages
Original language
English
Spoken on screen
English
Release dates
United States · May 22, 1999
TV · HBO
United States · January 25, 2000
Physical · DVD
Germany
November 1, 1999 · TV · Premiere World
August 1, 2003 · Physical · DVD
Hungary
May 5, 2006 · TV
Japan
March 22, 2007 · TV
Poland
March 6, 2001 · TV
Sweden
March 30, 2005 · TV
United Kingdom
December 16, 2002 · Physical · DVD
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