This film is a direct adaptation of the 1982 play of the same name by August Wilson. I knew this fact before starting the film but it wouldn't have taken very long for me to realise it was an adapted play because it feels like one, and not in a good way.
Don't get me wrong, plays are excellent and there have been many excellent films adapted from plays. The problem here is that no thought has been made here how to adapt it for the screen so it's a very literal production of the play, complete with long dialogue sequences including monologues. This sort of thing works on stage, partly because you can see the actors in front of you performing it live, but it's less successful on stage and the magic of editing and switching camera angles lessens the effect of the performances. There are countless ways that it could have been adapted for the screen- one that immediately comes to mind is that when characters talk to things which happened outside the room that they could actually show us rather than listen to the character describe it.
I thought that the play itself was fairly strong. It's set during the Harlem Renaissance and focuses on a recording session of jazz singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis). She is intentionally difficult towards her white producers in order to try to gain the respect she deserves. The main focus though is on the band as they chat and ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) dreams of getting his own record deal. As you'd expect from part of August Wilson's Pittsburg Cycle, the play is very much about the African-American experience in the 20th Century.
It feels quite old-fashioned in several ways. Some of this is intentional as it's set in 1927 and so the language is very much of it's time. But this is a play that was written in 1982 about being African-American and whilst many of the issues remain sadly the same, the way this conversation is now held has moved on. It's another way in which I felt that the script of the play needed adapting for this film.
The undisputable highlight of this film is Chadwick Boseman's performance as Levee. Sometimes actors become part of the award's conversation because of their death but I think there's no question that he'd still be in that conversation were he still alive. It's such a powerful, angry performance and the final shot of the character is compelling. This was Boseman's final film and it's yet another reminder of just how excellent an actor he was and how much the world will miss out due to his untimely death.
Some great performances, especially from Boseman, but this is a poor adaption of a stage play which should have been updated and adapted for the screen.
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