Great Kickin' Dog (A Family Tree)

Ex musician, assembly line worker and alcoholic, John Coleman Sr. is a man with deferred and shattered dreams. Living in a Chicago housing project during the 60's he is a father raising his eight-member family; four girls, two musical prodigy boys and a mentally unstable wife, in a drug, gang and gun infested environment among households with absent dads. During a competitive time of young musical prodigies, he fights for a pathway out of the projects through his talented sons. On a quest to find a way out, he drags his gifted boys on a whirlwind journey of hope, from talent shows to south side Blues clubs and observes their reputation growing with each performance. But along with the journey to see his boys "e;get great"e;, is his ongoing struggle with alcohol, his wife's neurotic behavior and the fortified barrier of resentment from his jealous daughters all brought on by a family history of mental illness. Not only does John Coleman Sr. have to contend with the inner turmoil of his family, but a family tragedy shakes him to the core and threatens the sanctity of his high-spirited loved ones.The 'Great' Kickin'dog is a Black experience during a turbulent time of civil rights in the 6o's and free spirits of the 70's embedded in the cradle of Chicago's segregation. It is a coming-of-age saga of passion, perseverance and the courage to rise above; a compelling story of hope and the question of fate.