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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Movie Review

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a 2020 historical drama film directed by George C. Woolfe and starring Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis. It’s such a good, emotional movie.

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“You’re colored and you can make them some money,

then you’re alright with them.

Otherwise, you’re just a dog in some alley“

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Tensions rise when trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and her band gather at a recording studio in Chicago in 1927. It was wonderful and refreshing seeing a period piece about black people that is not about suffering and slavery etc, but about black culture and art. I loved that about this movie and it truly is a great testament to the importance of blues music, being a strong historical lesson detailing one of the most important periods in the history of cinema, the arrival of sound and the beginning of recording sessions.

The film still explores the racism that was abundant during the twenties. In one truly heartbreaking moment that is the film’s finest part, Ma tells us that they only want her voice, but other than that, they would discard her like a stray dog. The way that she keeps up with the white men in charge was truly admirable for this period along with her unabashed lesbianism. She was definitely a powerful figure and the only problem the movie made is to not feature more of her.

Viola Davis is an amazing actress. There is simply nothing that this woman cannot do. Here she is almost unrecognizable as this physically busted woman with ugly teeth and sweating profusely, but she’s believable through and through. Her performance is one full of intensity, power and deep emotion behind all of that impressive strength and composure. It did not come close to her absolutely incredible turn in ‘Fences’, but she still deserves a lot of praise.

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But Chadwick Boseman actually ended up being the standout member of this stellar cast. This is going to go down as undoubtedly his magnum opus. His turn here is scene-stealing, magnetic and at times deeply moving. There is this one speech that he gives that is really affecting and strong. It is so powerful, in fact, that it reminds us tragically what could have been had he not died so early.

Others are also pretty good in this excellent cast, but the above two are clearly the ones that received the most focus. Colman Domingo is easily the best among the rest of the bunch and his scenes with Chadwick are phenomenal. The direction from George C. Woolfe isn’t all that great unfortunately and the movie should have been more cinematic.

This is the second adaptation of an August Wilson play after ‘Fences’, but it lacks the dramatic heft of that film as the third act was disappointing to me and from the most satisfactory conclusion. I preferred the rest of the film myself. Again, the film is well shot and very interesting in its bright, vintage look, but still it simply needed more cinematic flourishes to make it worthy of the big screen.

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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom contains tremendous costuming, production design and great sound. The beginning is amazing and all of the speeches and dialogue at large are the best elements in this strongly written, emotionally rewarding drama. It’s engaging and meticulously detailed while possessing a lot of heart throughout.