“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” Film Review
By: Mickey Van Drehle
Tags: Film, Ma Raineys Black Bottom, Film Reviews, Movies, Movie Review

Netflix is certainly having a good film year. From the success and award buzz of “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and “Da 5 Bloods” to the fun and glitter of “The Prom,” they’re definitely packing a punch in 2020. You can add another very good and award-worthy film to their 2020 original films: “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.”

Bolstered by two incredible performances from Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, this film is on its way to Oscar nominees and probably wins. Based off the play by August Wilson, the film is directed by George C. Wolfe (“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” “Lackawanna Blues” “You’re Not You” “Nights in Rodanthe”) and written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson (“Lackawanna Blues”). It also stars Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige, Dusan Brown, Jeremy Shamos and Jonny Coyne.

It’s Chicago 1927, and Ma Rainey (Davis) and her band are meeting for a recording session. Ma Rainey’s ambitious horn player, Levee (Boseman), has dreams and aspirations of his own that are causing some tension between Ma Rainey and the band. He’s somewhat cocky, but also smooth.

To top it off, Ma Rainey is being controlled by her white management team who tries to walk around all of her demands, but eventually has to make it up when Ma Rainey puts her foot down. They also want her to sing a new rendition of her song “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” but she wants to keep it the same because after all, it is her music. She’s the “Mother of the Blues.” Levee is not happy with Ma Rainey’s decision to keep the old rendition of her song. He thinks her music is becoming a little tiring. But Ma Rainey won’t stand for that kind of talk. If you don’t like her music, you can leave or she will leave, and go somewhere else to record.

Honestly there is not much of a plot to talk about beyond this. This is more of a character study (and you can definitely tell it is based off a play). It’s fun to see the late Chadwick Boseman deliver such fine dialogue. He gives his best performance in this film, and I think he could go on to win Best Actor at the Oscars. His final monologue is powerful, yet heartbreaking.

Viola Davis commands the screen with every scene she is. She, too, could also win for Best Actress (I think it will be between her and Frances McDormand for “Nomadland”). She is feisty, full of fire, but also not devoid of heart and compassion. The latter is especially shown when she asks her nephew, Sylvester (Brown), to introduce “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” on her album. Sylvester has a stutter that makes the band laugh and shake their heads. But Ma Rainey believes in her nephew, and he eventually nails the part.

The rest of the supporting cast does wonderful work, too, but this is definitely Chadwick and Viola’s show. The script is also sharp and full of fantastic dialogue, while the direction is clean, making this one of George C. Wolfe’s best films to date. The only thing that I would have liked more of is additional background on Ma Rainey and Levee, but I get this was meant to be a faithful play adaptation.

Check out “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” on Netflix. It’s an actor’s showcase that is not to be missed. Rated R.

Grade = 4/5