Sounder
In a quirk of film history, this new version of the1972 classicis directed by Kevin Hooks--who played the central role of the sharecropper's son in the original. That's a nice full circle, although it leaves unanswered a basic question:  why bother remaking a movie that got it right the first time? The story is simplicity:  a black family in the Depression suffers when the father is arrested for stealing a ham. The punishment? Five years, hard labor.Sounderhas an under-rehearsed, rushed quality common to low-budget TV pictures, although Carl Lumbly brings a powerful presence to the role of the father. (That's Paul Winfield, the star of the original, as the teacher who befriends the son.) The shortcomings may not matter much to the young audiences Disney targets, as they'll probably be too busy rooting for the return of the dog that gives the movie its name.--Robert Horton