Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

 1.5/4

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Viola Davis, Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige

Rated R for Language, Some Sexual Content and Brief Violence

That "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is adapted from a stage play should come as no surprise to anyone.  This movie exists on dialogue and performances alone.  It's a big risk, filming a version of a play like this. And it did not pay off here.

Putting a play directly onto the screen generally isn't a good idea.  Theater is a different medium than film, and as such must be translated to fit the new medium.  What works on stage doesn't necessarily work on screen.  Chadwick Boseman has two monologues that are clearly meant to be spoken directly to the audience.  On stage, it would be riveting.  But on film, it's laughable.

The set-up is simple.  Ma Rainey (Davis), the "Mother of the Blues" is in New York to make a recording.  She is a diva to the extreme, demanding and stubborn.  Everything is on her terms.  That doesn't sit well with the upstart trumpeter named Levee (Boseman).  Levee is ambitious and plans to strike out on his own, and as such has no problem talking back to Ma or seducing her companion Dussie Mae (Paige).  The tension between them that develops grows as hot as the day outside.

As can be expected, there is a lot of dialogue in this movie.  These characters never shut up.  For a film like this to work, it has to have two things: strong characters and interesting dialogue.  It has neither.  The people in this movie are stick figures and about 90% of what they have to say is verbal diarrhea.  Little of it makes sense or even has a point.

"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" is notable for being the final curtain call for Chadwick Boseman, a rising star whose sudden death from colon cancer earlier this year took the world by surprise.  He's very good here, portraying Levee as a man who is arrogant, desperate and tortured.  The role demands that he slide all over the emotional scale, and Boseman successfully captivates even when the direction undermines him.  Characters like Levee are a cliche in showbiz stories, but Boseman has nothing to be ashamed of.

Viola Davis is always a welcome presence on screen and this is no different.  But if I'm being honest, this isn't the best use of her considerable talents.  She has nothing to do but act like a spoiled, temperamental diva.  Davis has built a career out of playing strong women, and Ma Rainey certainly fits the bill.  But other than ordering people around and threatening to leave the studio, Davis doesn't get to do much.

The bottom line is that "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" fails because it is simply a filmed version of a play.  On stage, a minimal number of sets and a reliance on dialogue are fine.  That's the nature of the medium.  In a film, such a presentation only heightens the contrivance and falseness of the "plot."  The director has to find another way to present the material.  George C. Wolfe does not, and thus the film is a massive bore.