The United States vs Billie Holiday

Stories behind impactful artists of an ear adapted on the big screen definitely have the potential to inspire current generations to learn from the mistakes of the past while catching glimpses of both the joys as well as the hardships during those times. This is a trend that won't be stopping anytime soon (regardless of audiences annoyance with it) but as mentioned in my Judas and the Black Messiah review, this is something that will never not be needed to be finished as out modern age often regresses to awful misbehavior both on a local and larger front. This brings us to a new project on this type of area, The United States vs. Billie Holiday, which was directed by Lee Daniels and written by Suzan-Lori Parks. This biopic was mentioned among awards contenders for its main actress but there wasn't much marketing from their distributor Hulu. I was made made awards of it via Twitter and marked it on my watchlist as part of 2021 releases I can access via those platforms. After watching the movie on Hulu, however, it ended up being sloppy mishandled execution that made the flawed but enjoyable Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) look like Citizen Kane by comparison. 

What's it about? Taking place in the late 1940s, the story follows the true events regarding the FBI's battle against a musician due to her controversial song about lynching. Learning historical details about this troubled artist definitely has potential to encourage people to research more into her life as it's both tragic and kinda chaotic. Looking at the diabolical actions from the government in this era paints more dread to think about after watching those similar events to the Black Panther Party. 

What ended up being executed, however, felt like badly directed student project that only turned in a rough draft adding on too much material. The pacing suffers from tackling on too many plot points that don't flow well into one another. The direction is pretty sloppy between a few too many fading shots attempting to do a montage and chemistry between characters that doesn't click. The exposition being delivered is rushed in hoping the audience can keep up between people established in the beginning and tragic developments that occur. As a result it's difficult to stay focused on what's going on where not much time is spent on observing details and it's hard to have emotional investment at the end of it all. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actress to focus on are Andra Day. In her first leading role, Andra gives a pretty good performance that does a solid job between juggling confidence, reeling in sorrow from numerous setbacks, and stubbornness in the face of adversity. For as good as she is, however, her acting isn't strong enough to overcome the blatant weaknesses of the project she's in (very talented actors wouldn't be able to either) Honorable mentions goes to Trevante Rhodes for feeling like the only other supporting actor putting in some effort with material that allows him that chance. There are other side actors that could be mentioned but the director did a dismal job utilizing them well (just wanted to mention that here).

 

Overall Consensus: The strong lead performance in The United State vs. Billie Holiday isn't able to overcome how much the crowded screenplay and weak direction squanders the potential in executing this biopic in a smooth compelling manner. ⭑⭑1/4 Runtime: 2 hours 10 minutes R

 

Reasons to watch it: You are a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Lee Daniels. You are familiar with the musician and are curious to see how they handled it as a drama. You are in the mood to check out awards contender features. 

 

Reasons to avoid it: You aren't a fan of the aforementioned actors and/or director Lee Daniels. You are familiar with the musician but don't want to see it mishandled as a drama. You dislike watching true stories where the government goes after civil rights figures. You are annoyed with scripts that add too much material with bad pacing.