Marshall
Directed by: Reginald Hudlin
Written by: Jacob & Michael Koskoff
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown, Dan Stevens, Kate Hudson, James Cromwell, Keesha Sharp, Roger Guenveur Smith, John Magaro, Ahna O'Reilly, Jeffrey DeMunn, Marina Squerciati, Derrick Baskin, Barrett Doss, Jussie Smollett, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Jeremy Bobb, Sophia Bush, Mark St. Cyr
Biography/Drama - 118 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 13 Oct 2017
Written by: Jacob & Michael Koskoff
Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown, Dan Stevens, Kate Hudson, James Cromwell, Keesha Sharp, Roger Guenveur Smith, John Magaro, Ahna O'Reilly, Jeffrey DeMunn, Marina Squerciati, Derrick Baskin, Barrett Doss, Jussie Smollett, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas, Jeremy Bobb, Sophia Bush, Mark St. Cyr
Biography/Drama - 118 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 13 Oct 2017
There are two Thurgood Marshall facts most laymen know about the man: 1) He won the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court case integrating the schools and 2) He was the first African-American male to serve on that same Supreme Court. Vegas would probably not post odds on whether or not the first Hollywood biopic about the gentleman would include the two most notorious accomplishments of his lifetime; it is just assumed. However, Reginald Hudlin’s Marshall doesn’t get to those achievements until the epilogue where words on the screen tell you what happened later on in Marshall's life. Shaking its head at the audience’s expectations, Marshall is not about the man’s life - he was born, he practiced law, he served on the bench, he died. No, Marshall sticks to one court case long before the man became a legend.
Written by father and son writing team Jacob and Michael Koskoff, it appears the NAACP employed their traveling lawyer on a legal Chitlin' Circuit. Wherever the papers blared bold, above the fold headlines of a black man accused of a salacious crime against a white person, Thurgood Marshall soon arrived to assess whether the man was guilty or if he was being railroaded to a guilty plea because of his race. Marshall didn’t chase ambulances, he sought notoriety. He used the racism inherent in the justice system to call attention to much larger issues. Michael Koskoff is a lawyer and the film benefits from an insider's lens to remind our 2017 eyes just how 1941 courtrooms were stacked against any reliable justice for minorities, even in allegedly progressive Connecticut.
Written by father and son writing team Jacob and Michael Koskoff, it appears the NAACP employed their traveling lawyer on a legal Chitlin' Circuit. Wherever the papers blared bold, above the fold headlines of a black man accused of a salacious crime against a white person, Thurgood Marshall soon arrived to assess whether the man was guilty or if he was being railroaded to a guilty plea because of his race. Marshall didn’t chase ambulances, he sought notoriety. He used the racism inherent in the justice system to call attention to much larger issues. Michael Koskoff is a lawyer and the film benefits from an insider's lens to remind our 2017 eyes just how 1941 courtrooms were stacked against any reliable justice for minorities, even in allegedly progressive Connecticut.
In the last five years, when Hollywood needed to cast a man to play a very well known African-American legend who broke barriers and paved the way for future generations, they called Chadwick Boseman (Captain America: Civil War). Boseman played Jackie Robinson. He then took on and nailed the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, James Brown. Now, he infuses a young Thurgood Marshall, a man nowhere near a household name yet, with a confident swagger. Marshall knows the law and he knows injustice. Put the two together with just the right case to make a platform and Marshall could grandstand with the best of them. The nonverbal confidence cues are what many will remember most from the performance rather than any quippy one-liners. Our first look at the man is Boseman descending a staircase; he pauses to put his hat on and stares straight ahead as the title comes on screen. He is all business. At the end, a man gawks at Marshall who drinks from a ‘Whites Only’ water fountain. Boseman cocks his head, strides on, and emits a “Damn right I just did that” vibe. Will Smith is most likely waiting in the wings should Hollywood trot out a sequel.
I am not disappointed the Koskoffs and Hudlin focus on one case to reacquaint America with a man not yet given his cinematic due. The idea of a full biopic from childhood to death sounds more like "you are supposed to see this movie because it’s good for you", rather than this movie will entertain you for two hours. The small sample size, though, makes Marshall feel like a Law and Order episode. Marshall is the name of the film and Boseman is in a lot of scenes, but the court case is all plot and it plays by the tried and true rules of a courtroom drama. The case isn’t even that revelatory, it’s not too far off from To Kill A Mockingbird. To give it that extra push, Sterling K. Brown (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) plays the defendant, Joseph Spell. Spell is accused by his former employer of rape and attempted murder. When a white woman in 1941 accused an African-American of such crimes, he was guilty and even still presumed guilty should he accidentally be proven innocent in a court of law.
Sterling K. Brown, lapping the awards circuit picking up acting trophies for American Crime Story: the People vs. O.J. Simpson and network TV’s newest “we’re aiming for your tear ducts” drama, This Is Us, opts to show a brave, but fragile, front. Spell knows how much hot water he is in, and we see him quake every now and again when that outward bravery cracks a little bit underneath an impossible case stacked up against him. The accuser, played by Kate Hudson (Deepwater Horizon), is a socialite, wealthy, blonde, and a witness any prosecutor would salivate to treat tenderly on the stand. How could the jury not believe a word said by such an angelic face? Dan Stevens (Beauty and the Beast), playing a stereotypical obnoxious prosecutor merely counting the years before he rides daddy’s coat tails over to Congress, does his best to ensure we detest him.
But we haven’t mentioned Marshall’s heart and soul yet, Josh Gad (A Dog's Purpose) as Sam Friedman, a lawyer far more comfortable dissecting insurance claims than defending an alleged rapist in a criminal trial. Thurgood Marshall is not from Connecticut, and James Cromwell (Big Hero 6) as the thorny judge isn’t about to let some uppity NAACP showman make waves in his good ol’ boy sanctuary; therefore, Friedman functions as Marshall’s mouthpiece - not an easy thing to do with a man used to preaching from a soapbox. Spell is the man looking down the barrel of life in prison, but Marshall comes off as the most frustrated man on screen. He can’t talk in the courtroom. He can’t strut, he can’t can’t demand attention, he must watch a Jewish criminal novice trip over and fumble his prepared and eloquent words.
Yes, it matters Friedman is Jewish. Nowhere near as shunned as the African-Americans in town, he’s not allowed into the WASP clubs of the town elite either. He also doesn’t want to be mixed up in this trial. Thurgood gets to pack his suitcase and gallop off to the next hotspot after Connecticut; Friedman has to live here. Gad, like always, earns most of the chuckles and lightens up the tension when he walks into the room. This time, he gets a chance to yell at Marshall for believing a bit too much in his altruism. He’s not really up in Connecticut because he cares about Spell as a man who may or may not have committed a heinous crime. He’s here for the newspaper ink. Marshall is using Spell. That is something the Koskoff’s script gets right; nobody in this movie is a saint. Marshall uses the case for his own ends, Friedman is terrified of what may happen to his reputation for taking a stand, and Spell’s story doesn’t hold up - he may not be such an innocent victim as he claims he is.
Framing the court case plot is an early World War II backdrop giving Hudlin a chance to show off some early 1940's atmospherics. Thurgood drinks cocktails at a Harlem jazz club with Langston Hughes and though not named, a man supposed to be August Wilson. Throwing us right out of the movie, however, Hudlin includes some grainy stock footage of what Times Square looked life back then. It’s quick and it’s only once, but what is the point of it? It doesn't fit. Hudlin has a comedy background; he directed the first House Party back in 1990, Boomerang, and the film version of SNL’s The Ladies Man. Now known as a TV director who takes on a couple episodes from many well known series, Marshall is Hudlin’s first crack at feature-length drama. He treads water. We’ve seen all of this before but; crucially, he avoids calamitous mistakes. The pacing moves preventing courtroom fatigue and the back-and-forth and later bond between Marshall and Friedman works. The audience will question the historical accuracy of Thurgood throwing down in a bar against some Neanderthal white supremacists, but the overall effort is an average legal drama. It is notable for trying out a slice of life biopic style rather than a full lifespan encyclopedic effort. Perhaps most importantly, Chadwick Boseman does it again.
Comment Box is loading comments...
