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RECOMMENDED

Rated PG-13

Set in Harmony, Ala., during Jim Crow, John Sayles' latest project is less a conventional film than a bluesy collaboration - slow-moving, contemplative, wily and laced through with cultural nuances. About to lose his Honeydripper Lounge to moneylenders (including Vondie Curtis Hall), Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover) stumbles on a savior of sorts, itinerant guitarist Sonny Blake (Gary Clark, Jr.). The film includes lots of local intrigues and political layers. While Charles Dutton as Maceo, Tyrone's best friend, helps to make this central relationship especially sharp, the familiar types also take on new dimensions. Smart performances are put in by everyone from a cracker sheriff (Stacy Keach) and frustrated white lady (Mary Steenburgen) to Tyrone's pure-of-heart daughter China Doll (Yaya DaCosta) and the passionate preacher (Albert Hall). Amid the emotional details, the film also offers up a musical trajectory, from blues to rock, that serves as additional allegory: Times change and troubles stay the same.  —Cindy Fuchs

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