The Caveman's Valentine (2001)

Samuel L. Jackson gives a virtuoso performance in this intensely visual suspense film. Jackson stars as Romulus Ledbetter, a brilliant musician whose mental demons have driven him onto the streets. When Ledbetter finds a murdered man outside the cave he calls home one morning, he is compelled to find the real killer. While interesting enough to hold the viewer's attention, the mystery of The Caveman's Valentine is a distant third to Jackson's performance and the film's sumptuous visuals. The film is gorgeously shot, and lights and abstract images are effectively used to show Romulus's beautiful but tormented inner world. While the plot does take a silly leap of logic or two, Romulus's illness and the strain it puts on his family are sensitively and realistically handled. His all-too-real run-ins with his policewoman daughter are nicely contrasted with his visions of his ex-wife, who serves as a combination of Greek chorus and muse. If one is willing to suspend a little disbelief here and there, this picture is well worth a look. --Ali Davis Amazon.com

The Enhanced Vision of so-called "Crazy" People

"The Caveman's Valentine" like other movies of this genre ("The Fisher King" and "Powder") speaks to humanity's collective unconscious more powerfully than any of us can ever know, or even admit to if we did know. We are all so focused on this one lifetime, this one living space we call the world, our reality. But I believe there are those who remember other lifetimes lived in other dimensions and worlds in the universe; places, even earths, far older than this one. All too often, those memories, necessarily, return, shocking and so overwhelming the systems of those who do remember, that their exhumed, authentic sanity is catapulted into overdrive and the result is a brilliantly strange, supremely talented individual who can no longer co-exist with the delusional condition we call "civilization" because its very nature and the bylaws of that nature are a collective, unequivocal denial of what the Caveman (or Cavewoman) lives with everyday. This is because, by comparison, the tenets of the "regulated" insanity of our so-called "civilization" won't allow him to believe what he feels, dreams, or sees in myriad visions.

Society's cavemen and cavewomen are enormously frightening because they tap into our own "blocked" memories, and to try to believe them, even a little bit, is too much. So, we immediately label them "insane" because we hope that to do so will keep us from ever having to face what I think is a reality common to all of us, a place of secrets, and perhaps a shame that is older than time. For, why else would we, since the beginning of known time, torture ourselves with so much betrayal, violence, and suffering?

So, the Caveman's "insanity" grows not from some chemical secretion or refusal to deal with reality, but from the overwhelming power of the denial of an extraordinary, but true reality, which, to our shuttered minds is the stuff of lore and forbidden fantasy; a real-life fantasy which is impossible to prove to a world where the history of our souls and their creation has become the warp and woof of religion and legend, finding no real outlet except in the babblings of the "insane" or the "possessed." You may ask: What is the entire unabridged story? Well, for now, we've hidden that in the depths of our unconscious, where it lies "forgotten," until someone like the Caveman pokes a teasing finger and scares us into almost remembering. The story shall, I fear, remain "forgotten," until we can somehow resolve the often horrible contradictions of our pasts, and forgive ourselves both collectively and individually. Then perhaps, insanity will simply cease to exist. We will go home to the Caveman, the prodigals, whose acceptance of him, and his of us, finally brings the wholeness we have sought, and have shedded more than blood to find.

"The Caveman's Valentine" is not for everybody. But for those of us who believe in far more than we can actually see, this movie is a validation of that part of us, of those shadowy dreams and nightmares we wake from, frightened, not of their strangeness, but of their familiarity; not of their impossibility, but of their undeniable validity. May 1, 2008

The Strength of Great Actors vs, So-So Material

I have seen this film many times over the years and my opinion of it hasn't changed much. Kasi Lemmons is a very interesting director, she has a nice visual flair as evidenced also with Eve's Bayou, she seems to have incorporated elements of Black Theatre into this piece with the Moth Seraphs and their dances.

Samuel L. Jackson is completely at his best, and once again shows why he is a huge mainstream movie star. His portrayal of Romulus Ledbetter is very much Sam Jack, but he does some amazing things with this character with such small nuances as his disoriented walk much like what Ralph Fiennes did in Cronenberg's Spider (for those who have seen that), in fact this is the kind of story I could see David Cronenberg tackling, but alas this film suffers from what I call a conventional ending, and has too many cliche plot twists for me that in the end it almost comes off as an above average prime time television show along the lines of CSI or even a made-for-television film.

I do recommend seeing this for Lemmons direction, and Jackson's awesome performance. Any young actor can learn a thing or two.

-Thomas Galasso January 9, 2006

Worst performance

I am a genuine fan of Samuel Jackson - his recent fims such as Coach Carter and In my Country have proved his undoubted versatility as an actor. So what on earth induced him to get involved in such a trashy film - and to allow himself to be directed in such a way. His acting is atrocious, as is the rest of the film - feeble script, dismal cinematography and a complete bore. Sorry, but this had to be said ! December 27, 2005

One of my favorites!

This is perhaps one of the most underestimated films of all time. I don't see how this film went totally unnoticed by pretty much everyone. Samuel L. Jackson gives THE best performance of his career as Romulus Ledbetter - second only to Jules Winnfield in "Pulp Fiction". Kasi Lemmons proves once again that she's an excellent director, who strangely hasn't directed anything since this. The music by Terence Blanchard is also excellent. The cinematography is BEAUTIFUL. Everything about this film is excellent, although your suspension of disbelief will come in handy every now and again.

Totally recommended! October 3, 2004

A good adaptation of the book

There were many things missing or different from the book, but what movie adaptation is perfect?... Samuel L. Jackson was wonderful as Romulus, and the story made a good movie. If you enjoy the movie, you should pick up the George Dawes Green book -- same author as The Juror, also adapted into a movie starring Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin.
Also, on the DVD's "Deleted Scenes" section there is a WONDERFULLY choreographed scene with Rom's "moth-seraphs" which is just amazingly beautiful to watch! It's too bad they cut it from the movie, but be sure to take it in when you're going through the Bonus Features. May 1, 2004

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