Film Review: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom – 7.5/10

‘The more music you have in the world, the fuller it is...’

As with Heath Ledger and The Dark Knight or Brandon Lee and The Crow, there are some films that will be forever overshadowed by tragedy. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, for better or for worse, is now intrinsically linked with the death of Chadwick Boseman. And while it is certainly a fitting tribute to a wonderful actor, there are many strings to this particular bow that also deserve recognition…

Fearless blues singer Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) has got no time for your shit. She’s got no time for her manager’s shit (Jeremy Shamos). She’s got no time for her girlfriend’s shit (Taylour Paige). And she sure as shit don’t have no time for her trumpet players shit (Boseman). And yet, all these disparate elements must come together in a Chicago music studio to somehow record a record. The result is an explosive tangle of confrontations that all takes place over a single day.

Firstly, accusations that Boseman’s performance has been overhyped due to his untimely passing are categorically false. While Anthony Hopkins deserved his Best Actor Oscar for his stunning portrayal of dementia in The Father, Boseman undoubtedly earned his place in the conversation. He is all things at once here: angry, righteous, vulnerable, scarred and always hugely watchable. But as previously mentioned, this is more than just a cinematic tribute to one man. Viola Davis is utterly incredibly throughout, offering a vicious, and often terrifying version of the eponymous Ma Rainey. Boseman and Davis together breathe life into what is, at times, an electrifying movie.

This is the second of ten adaptations of August Wilson plays to be produced by Denzel Washington (the first one being Fences), and if the first two are anything to go by, the others could be something very special indeed.