Early John Sayles film that I saw once years and years ago, and then revisited again recently. It still holds up pretty well. Joe Morton gives an outstanding understated performance without uttering a sound, and the endless parade of oddball characters he comes into contact with throughout the movie are wonderful little set pieces, expecially the regulars at the bar where a lot of the action takes place. As usual with Sayles, he can say much more on a limited buget than movies three times the size. The drug message is a little heavy handed, and the ending is a bit confusing and abrupt (is he saying something here about the Black experience of being displaced, about the ideas of where you are FROM versus where you ARE?) - Like I've said before, ambiguous endings keep me coming back.
It says a lot for Sayles that he can manage to keep bringing back the same stable of talented actors to work with him again and again, and you will notice a lot of familiar faces from his other films years later.
other Sayles favorites: Lone Star, City of Hope, Matewan, Eight Men Out