Shadrach is one of those quiet little stories that would never have caught enough attention to get filmed -- if it weren't made possible by a daughter paying homage to her father. There isn't much plot to William Styron's short story: a 99-year-old former slave makes a pilgrimage to his birthplace in order to die there, and the descendants of his former owners must figure out how to honor him. It's simple, but never corny, as writer-director Susanna Styron ensures that her father's writing gets a proper treatment. In fact, the movie would be ideal for children first wrestling with the history of slaves and racism, except for that largely unnecessary outpouring of profanity from Harvey Keitel. Keitel's Vernon Dabney is uneven, sometimes seeming like a parody of a yokel, other times an earnest portrayal of a morally conflicted man. Styron the director seemed to have a more profound effect on Andie MacDowell, whose far more consistent performance is also some of the subtlest work of the former model's career. But the soul of the story has to be the numerous Dabney children and their surrogate brother (the narrator looking back in flashback), who are really touched by this ancient stranger, even though he can barely speak to them. Though it might betray a somewhat fanciful optimism on the Styrons' part, the children set aside their squalid conditions to focus on someone even less fortunate: just a fellow person who deserves compassion and respect by virtue of being human. Such a message can't be quibbled with, when it's delivered with the ease and conviction of Shadrach.