Harlem Aria hit the festival circuit in 1999, and contemporary critics are baffled by the timing of the release of the uneven story of a developmentally disabled young black man with a heart and voice of gold:
- The performances and William Jennings' direction are "no more than adequate," V.A. Musetto writes in the New York Post, and Jennings' script is "laughably inadequate." Furthermore, "Congress should look into" the fact that the film is being released now.