Movie scripts are often written with a few things in mind to try to avoid. Large crowds, intricate weather scenes, animals and children are often factors screenwriters should avoid if they want a shot at having a director consider making the film.

The latter factor, children, usually is a concern because juvenile actors lack the experience necessary to portray a believable character.

In the new melodrama, Eve’s Bayou, the story of an African-American family in Louisiana is told reminiscing through the eyes of the 10-year-old title character, and many of the consequential scenes in the film involve children. So, this excellent script could have been ruined if the children didn’t step up to the challenge, and I must say there simply could not have been better performances by the young actors in this movie.

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Louis Batiste (Samuel L. Jackson) is the head of the story’s central family and is also the town doctor who is constantly called upon to fix every illness, especially the lustful cravings of the local women.

Louis comes across as the perfect father and his children adore him for it, particularly his eldest daughter, Cisely (Meagan Good). The mother of this prosperous family, Roz (Lynn Whitfield), begins to suspect Louis has been unfaithful, and Cisely believes her mother is unjustly accusing Louis.

All of the family turmoil becomes too much for young Eve (Jurnee Smollett). She soon finds herself hating her father for the wrong reason, and suffers for it after the film’s penetrating climax.

Writer/director Kasi Lemmons’ script is excellent and her direction shines, especially her perplexing, black-and-white portrayals of Eve’s memory.

The acting is great all around, but the brilliancy of Smollett and Debbi Morgan as Aunt Mozelle is what made the movie for me. It’s a real Oscar magnet.