A good movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it had been very well received, I thought I might as well check it out. To be honest, I have to admit that I was at first not really interested as I expected it to be another predictable vintage flick about Blues. And, indeed, during the first scene, you get to see Ma Rainey and Levee performing on stage, the tension between them was just so obvious and the whole thing seemed to be about a talented jazz musician and his jealous band leader. Fortunately, it went just way deeper than that, and at the center, you had Chadwick Boseman who not only delivered his very last performance but, actually, the very best performance of his tragically short career. To think that the guy was in the middle of his battle against cancer will working on his movie was not only quite mind-bkowing but also did add another tragic layer to this tormented character. Indeed, at first, Levee might seem to be another cocky trumpet player but he turned out to be so much more complex. Basically, even though the guy had some skills and seemed to be confident, he had been also heavily traumatised by life in general and, if you expect this movie to end up with a glorious happy-ending with Levee becoming the next Jazz sensation, you will be quite disappointed. In fact, while all the black characters were constantly cracking jokes, you could feel that under the surface, they were actually all some damaged goods and they were actually almost constantly functioning in survival mode. Concerning Viola Davis, she gave here also another strong performance but even though this woman was just as complex as Levee was, I think she didn’t get enough running time to fully develop her character. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing turned out to be much more interesting than I expected and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to see Chadwick Boseman shining one last time.