THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY Review

The first hour of Lee Daniels’ oddly structured The United States vs. Billie Holiday is so plagued by the fits and starts of its three different narrative strands and the resulting meandering nature of as much that, despite the eponymous character being of indisputable interest, it's almost immediately evident this particular piece about her life lacks the focus to make any real sense to the casual viewer and won't be able to generate any lasting impact on even the most ardent of Holiday admirers. It’s not until nearly an hour and fifteen minutes in (or with some forty-five minutes remaining) that the film based on Suzan Lori-Parks’ screenplay from the novel by Johann Hari somewhat finds its footing by taking the character of Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes) who, up until this point has been something of an extraneous detail in Holiday's life, and inserts him into the main arc of Andra Day's version of Holiday; placing their two very different trajectories in life on the same track and forcing those paths to merge into one. The funny thing is, this breakthrough doesn't occur because Fletcher and Holiday have this undeniable chemistry or even because their mostly deranged romance is so captivating, but more it has to do with the fact this feels like the first time the film is actually onto something regarding who Holiday might have actually been as a human being. Sure, this is due in part to the fact that in the sprouting of this romantic relationship the viewer is also given further context surrounding Holiday's childhood and formative experiences (again, not until over an hour into the film), but if anything has been established in Daniels' film thus far it's that Holiday was a woman who liked to live in extremes no matter what she was doing. There's that famous quote of her responding to the question of why so many jazz greats seem to die so early to which she replied, "...we try to live one hundred days in one day." This is all to say that in her relationship with Fletcher - at least in the film - Holiday finds something she doesn't understand and therefore doesn't feel in control of her emotions due to the fact there's only a certain type of love she's become accustomed to. Both ironically and tragically is the fact the kind of love that made Holiday feel safe was also the kind that kept her perpetually unhappy and paranoid. What might have been a study in a life that only felt purposeful when what caused her pleasure caused her just as much pain, The United States vs. Billie Holiday is ultimately a mess of a missed opportunity whose execution can't match its subject's ambition.  

JUST MERCY Review

The third film from director Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12, The Glass Castle) stars Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson in the true story of a Harvard-educated lawyer named Bryan Stevenson (based on a book written by the actual Stevenson) who goes to Alabama in the late eighties to defend the disenfranchised and wrongly condemned including Foxx's Walter McMillian, a man sentenced to death despite evidence proving his innocence.

Every single word in that description would lead one to believe Just Mercy is an inevitably powerful film that is both timely and timeless as it touches on the indifference to inequality and justice in our society as its been fated to have been constructed; a world with a “justice deficient” as Stevenson would describe it, so why then...does everything about Just Mercy feel as formulaic as the old gospel hymns referenced within it? There's no taking away that this is a good movie, but there's no denying it goes down exactly as you expect it to also. That isn't to say the story isn't important or to criticize the story the film is telling, but more it is a recognition that Cretton and co-writer Andrew Lanham (The Shack) might have done more to execute this in a fashion not so routine; to find a way of conveying the story in unexpected ways rather than resting on the fact the true story is compelling enough on its own.

Teaser Trailer for Dee Rees' MUDBOUND

The first trailer for writer/director Dee Rees' (Pariah) adaptation of Hillary Jordan's novel, Mudbound, has premiered after receiving rave reviews out of Sundance earlier this year and being acquired by Netflix soon after. While this was another film I was hoping to see at TIFF this year on the big screen given the impression it's already made on the festival circuit, but there is comfort in knowing that with the film being acquired by a streaming service that those of us in smaller markets, such as myself, will in fact actually have the chance to screen it within a relevant amount of time of its release date whereas were this being distributed through a smaller company such as Fox Searchlight or A24 I might not have the chance to see the film until later in December (when everything comes out) or possibly even January. While the idea of not being able to see what has been called a, "sweeping and thrillingly ambitious," piece of work on the biggest screen possible is certainly discouraging I will count my lucky stars that I'll be able to see it at all as the studios release so many films around awards season that, even if Mudbound received theatrical distribution, odds are it would have never opened in my neck of the woods. That's enough about where/when/how the movie will open, but more let us bask in this first glimpse of the film as it paints a harrowing picture around two men who return home from World War II to work on a farm in rural Mississippi, where they struggle to deal with racism and adjusting to life after the war. Both Garrett Hedlund and Jason Mitchell have been hailed for their turns as these two former soldiers and while the trailer certainly plays up the bond that seems to inherently form between the two of them what is more breathtaking is the breadth of the scope Rees seems to have captured with her camera. There are certain shots that hint at terrible things, tense situations, and others that suggest where the narrative might go which isn't necessarily to places audiences would like to see it go. In short, this thing looks to be a profound experience and while I'm still hopeful the film may open in a select few theaters near me I'll continue to be thankful I get to see the film as soon as I'm able come its opening day. Mudbound also stars Carey Mulligan, Jason Clarke, Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, and begins streaming on Netflix and playing in select theaters on November 17th, 2017.