''Life Support'' is a 2007 American

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

directed by

Nelson George Nelson George (born September 1, 1957) is an American author, columnist, music and culture critic, journalist, and filmmaker. He has been nominated twice for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Biography George attended St. John's Univers ...

and starring

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...

. It is loosely based on the real-life story of Ana Wallace, an

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

-positive woman. The film premiered January 26, 2007 at the

2007 Sundance Film Festival The 2007 Sundance Film Festival ran from January 18 until January 28, 2007, in Park City, Utah with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah and Ogden, Utah. It was the 23-rd iteration of the Sundance Film Festival. The opening night film was '' Chic ...

and premiered on HBO on March 10, 2007.

Plot

Ana Wallace (

) was diagnosed with HIV 11 years ago. She got the virus from shooting

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

with her boyfriend, Slick (

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety portra ...

). Slick had the virus first but did not tell Ana he had it. Ana is devoted to her work at Life Support, an AIDS outreach group, but she struggles to repair her relationship with her teenage daughter, whom she lost custody of 11 years ago due to her drug addiction.

Cast

as Ana Wallace *

Anna Deavere Smith Anna Deavere Smith is an American actress, playwright, and professor. She is known for her roles as National Security Advisor Dr. Nancy McNally in '' The West Wing'' (2000–06), hospital administrator Gloria Akalitus in the Showtime series ''N ...

as Lucille *

as Slick * Rachel Nicks as Kelly Wallace *

Evan Ross Evan Olav Ross-Naess (born August 26, 1988), is an American actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama film '' ATL'' (2006), and has since starred in the films ''Pride'' (2007), ''According to Greta'' (2009), ''Mooz-lum'' ( ...

as Amare *

Gloria Reuben Gloria Elizabeth Reuben is a Canadian-American actress, producer, and singer. She is well-known for her role as Jeanie Boulet on the medical drama '' ER'' (1995–1999, 2008), for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy Award, and for portray ...

as Sandra *

Tony Rock Anthony Rock (born June 30, 1974) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is the younger brother of comedian Chris Rock. He is best known for playing Uncle Ryan on ''Everybody Hates Chris'' (2008–2009), and television producer Dirk Blac ...

as Ness *

Darrin Dewitt Henson Darrin Dewitt Henson (born May 5, 1973) is an American choreographer, dancer, actor, director and producer. Hensen was a brief member of freestyle music group Trilogy and was featured on their single "Good Time".Tracee Ellis Ross Tracee Joy Silberstein (born October 29, 1972), known professionally as Tracee Ellis Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2008) and '' Black-ish'' (2014–2022). She is ...

as Tanya * Limary L. Agosto as Woman #1 * Carlos Alban as Andre *

Brandon Scott Brandon Maurice Scott (born April 8, 1984) is an American politician serving as the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland since 2020. The city of Baltimore uses a strong mayor-council structure for their government, meaning Scott holds strong mayoral po ...

as Markus * Sidné Anderson as Sister Bernice * Dorothea Golden as Peer Counselor #1 * Chyna Layne as Deyah * Angel Magee as Peer Counselor #2 * Andrea Williams as Andrea Williams

Critical reception

Critics gave the film favorable reviews. On the review aggregator

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film had an average score of 77 out of 100, based on 9 reviews.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
''Life Support''
at sundance.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Life Support 2007 television films 2007 films 2007 drama films HIV/AIDS in American films HIV/AIDS in television American drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films