Video Review: 'The Inkwell' (1994)

Set in a black upper-middle-class enclave on Martha's Vineyard, Mass., in 1976, Inkwell tracks gentle 16-year-old Drew (Tate) as he veers among rowdy pals, a stuck-up teen princess, and the lonely wife down the beach. Right, it's Summer of '42 told from an African-American perspective, but at least the cast is likable. Too bad director Matty Rich coaches them to ham every last nuance out of their dialogue; what could have been a touching coming-of-age tale ends up as bogus as the Afro wigs on all the guys. C