Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Dir. George C Wolfe, Screenplay Ruben Santiago-Hudson (adapted from August Wilson), Released 2020

Rating: R

With a few months left to go until the Oscars, I’ve decided to dedicate the next few reviews to films that are contenders for Best Picture. This year has been full of weird adjustments for everything, and film has definitely been affected by “weird adjustments.” Still, 2020 saw many great movies, despite most of them having to forgo theatrical release. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom was one of the most anticipated films of 2020, released at the end of the year. The film, adapted from August Wilson’s play of the same name, offers some of the strongest performances of the year by its small cast, sure to leave you reeling.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is most definitely a character-driven work. That’s to be expected, considering that it is a play. The film depicts a day of rising tensions at the recording studio for blues singer Ma Rainey and her band in 1927. Ma Rainey, portrayed excellently by Viola Davis, knows that she’s got star power. She knows her talent, and she knows that her talent will be overlooked by her white manager and producers. It makes her fierce, authoritative, and unwavering. Ma Rainey is brash but admirable, unwilling to sacrifice her visions for anyone. Outstanding performances are to be expected from Viola Davis, but she still astounds as Ma Rainey. Her monologue in the recording studio, talking about how she is only useful to her manager and producers as a monetary tool, is a masterclass in acting. She’s not very present at the beginning of the movie, which is deeply disappointing, considering how captivating she is every moment she’s on-screen. The members of Ma Rainey’s band - Cutler, Toledo, Slow Drag, and Levee - deliver equally excellent performances, but it is Chadwick Boseman as Levee that truly steals the show.

Chadwick Boseman may not be the titular character of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, but it’s his movie. Levee was the last performance Boseman gave before his death, and it’s inarguably his best one. He’s electric from his first moment on the screen to his last. He’s intense, impactful, and devastating. Boseman’s first monologue - about his mother, father, and his thoughts about white men - is gripping and exceptionally delivered. Time stands still as he speaks, and I was unable to look away from the screen, completely transfixed. 

Boseman and the band have several superb scenes together, notably the scene with Cutler and Levee’s increasing physical argument about God, which ends with another intense monologue from Levee, with him pointing towards the sky and yelling at God, challenging him. I firmly believe that that scene alone will give Boseman an Oscar nomination, and likely a win. 

The movie’s pacing is rather slow, but the final twenty minutes are a frenzy of intense energy. Without spoiling anything, the final scene begins with Toledo stepping on Levee’s new shoes, and unravels brutally. It’s devastating, made worse by the final, swift betrayal of the film. 

All of that being said, the movie isn’t perfect. It originated as a play, and I believe that it probably works better on the stage. There’s little action, mainly dialogue and monologues, which would shine on the stage but can be boring on the screen. The directing is nothing special, reliant on steady cams and refusing to be daring. True, the opening scene is fast and dazzling, but the rest of the camera work falls flat from there. Play adaptations are tricky to maneuver, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom does a fine job, but it certainly had the opportunity to do better (especially considering the knockout performances from every member of the cast). 

Still, the movie is solid. The score is jazzy and lively, the costuming is wonderful, and the overarching theme of racism and how it affects each member of the band is well-developed and deeply character-driven. I definitely recommend Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, for Chadwick Boseman’s dynamite performance if nothing else. 

Rating: A-. The performances are all beautifully done, and each character is portrayed as real and raw. However, it was very slow in the beginning, with boring camerawork, and had the potential to be much more than what it was. Still,  I expect many Oscar nominations for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and likely many wins. It is available on Netflix.