easily one of my favorite films, jean-baptiste is spectacular as hortense cumberbatch, a successful, black optometrist who decides to seek out her birth mother following the death of her adoptive one. through records, she learns that her mother is a lower-class white woman, cynthia (brenda blethyn), who is immediately hostile, denying the truth when hortense calls her. after meeting, the two go on to develop a genuine friendship, one however, that leads to the exposure of their secret to cynthia's family. mike leigh's favorite method of improvisation creates for some fantastic scenes with jean-baptiste and blethyn, playing off of each other's sadness so beautifully. this will always be one of my favorite performances. *nominated for 1996 best supporting actress oscar;
lost to juliette binoche in the english patient
greatest moment: see below
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