Lackawanna Blues (2005) on Netflix
Ruben Santiago Jr. is sent to Rachel "Nanny" Crosby's boarding house in Lackawanna, New York, when his parents separate. He grows up around blues and soul music there.
- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb7.8/102,707 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes71%
Trailer
Plot summary
Ruben Santiago Jr. is born in 1956 to Ruben Santiago Sr., a Puerto Rican father, and Alean Hudson, an African-American mother. Alean stays in mental hospitals because she is too unstable to care for him, and his father, a boarder at Rachel "Nanny" Crosby's house, is often away at long working hours or out seeking work. Nanny is the mother figure who raises the boy at her boarding house in Lackawanna, New York, which she shares with her much younger husband, Bill Crosby. She takes in people who need a hand: Ol'lem Taylor, a retired baseball player; Bertha, a hairdresser; Lonnie, a Vietnam War veteran; Ricky, a cleaner; and Mr. Lucious, the handyman. Soul and blues music are part of Ruben's childhood among them.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Lackawanna Blues (2005)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- For her work in the movie, S. Epatha Merkerson won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, all in 2006.
- The blind Detroit street singer Robert Bradley, of the band Robert Bradley's Blackwater Surprise, appears in the film performing on screen and has three songs on the soundtrack, including a duet with Macy Gray.
