Cornbread, Earl and Me

I have heard this film referenced from time to time, but really didn't know anything about it. It's a meandering, muddled film that was probably revelatory at the time because it's set in a primarily black, inner-city neighborhood. Cornbread is a young star basketball player that is about to be the first young man to leave his rough neighborhood for college. The community is proud of Cornbread and look out for him. There a lot of ways for Cornbread to get in trouble and there must have been five times that someone said "We don't want something bad to happen to you before you go away to college." Of course this is heavy-handed foreshadowing. Two cops shoot Cornbread in the back, thinking he's a rapist they've been chasing, but lost sight of. The story then turns to an inquest the family requests to prove that Cornbread was not a criminal. The neighborhood is bullied by the cops into not talking, but a young man (the "Me" in the title) tells the truth on the stand and convinces the cop that shot Cornbread that perhaps he did shoot the wrong man. It's a flat, uninspired movied that touches on some complex and interesting subjects, but ultimately never follows through. It is only worth watching for the debut performance of "Lawrence Fishburn III" in the "Me" roll. He was quite good. Even at age twelve you can tell he's an actor to watch.