The rule of thumb about sequels is that they're never as good as the original; Queen is no exception. This 3-part miniseries follows the other half of Alex Haley's family tree, but it's not nearly as entertaining, emotional, or well made as Roots. And while quite a few stars made up the supporting cast, the main fault lies in the title character played by Halle Berry. In her first leading role, it's clear she's no actress. She came from a background of beauty pageants, not acting training, and it shows. I actually felt sorry for the veteran actors beside her. Just as I'm sure they were excited to be cast in the sequel to Roots, no doubt they were embarrassed to be seen in the final production.
If you can get past the leading character with an enormous lack of talent who puts no motivation behind her character and struggles talking with an uneducated slave dialect, you'll learn about the other side of Alex Haley's lineage. It starts in the 1850s. A white landowner's son is engaged to a proper white lady in town, but he's also having an affair with one of his slaves. When a daughter is born, she's very light-skinned and is moved to the big house as a companion to his pure white daughter. Martin Sheen and Ann-Margret are the grandparents, Tim Daly and Jasmine Guy are the parents, and Patricia Clarkson is Tim's wife who knows the truth but is powerless to banish the illegitimate daughter from the house. As the years progress and war threatens their way of life, Queen learns the difference between white and black worlds. Eventually, when the war is over, she leaves the plantation to head north. Her life path takes turns of sorrow as she meets up with various characters: Ossie Davis, Dennis Haysbert, Lonette McKee, Elizabeth Wilson, Victor Garber, Richard Jenkins, Jake Krakowski, Madge Sinclair, Lorraine Toussaint, Paul Winfield, and Danny Glover.
Parts of the miniseries seem uneventful, and some of them are horrifically upsetting. Just be prepared when you watch this: it's not Roots. You won't form a bond with any of the characters, and you probably won't insist your friends watch it. It could have been a lot better with one little casting choice: the woman who played Queen.
Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to racial language and graphic racial violence, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.
