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/movies/1129660/ma-raineys-black-bottom
Review of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
by Jeremy Thomas
Posted on June 7th, 2021
Positive 8
Overall Rating
 
+
netflix had some of their usual awful efforts in 2020, but had some absolute gems as well. case in point: ma rainey's black bottom. this adaptation by george c. wolfe of the late august wilson's stage play is crackling with energy from start to finish, more than you might expect from a play adaptation that takes place entirely within a 1927 recording studio. we can thank the unbelievable cast for this, including colman domingo, glynn turman, and michael potts as band members for the real-life ma rainey and both jeremy shamos and jonny coyne as rainey's manager and the studio executive, respectively. these talented supporting actors make wilson's words, adapted for the screen by ruben santiago-hudson, feel lived in and authentic as they worry, banter, and wait for their recording session to start and then finish. but foremost among the cast are, without question, viola davis and chadwick boseman. davis is at the top of her game embodying the larger-than-life ma rainey, right down to the gold teeth and undeniable performing presence. rainey was an important part of the blues and davis gives her the swagger she needs, but also never forgets that she has the weight of the world on her shoulders as a woman of color cutting her own path in a world where she is not set up to succeed. her opposite is boseman, who exudes so much bouncy charm and as the cocky trumpeter levee green, but also knows how to bring some thunder when dramatic gravitas is needed. the performances enable a film that delves into the appropriation of black culture long before "appropriation" was an internet buzzword. wolfe makes great use of his single location setting, staging the lower-level room where the session band plays as a sort of verbal boxing arena between levee and the others while ma jabs and weaves against shamos and coynes' characters on high. everything is a battle in ma rainey's black bottom, and davis and boseman -- the latter in his final film -- come out as absolute champions regardless of what happens in the script.
Jeremy Thomas
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