So a couple of weeks back, during its first week of release, I saw "Marshall". My concerns going in were justified in that I was worried that Reginald Hudlin was rusty and way beyond his prime. Even when Hudlin was younger and on the rise his direction skills were solid at best. In "Marshall" he directed scenes with all the inventiveness of the camera work seen in 1980s and 1990s court room TV shows like "Matlock" and 'In the Heat of the Night". The script was slightly above average so it wasn't as if Hudlin was working with truly great material. But a much better director could have elevated scenes, gotten rid of unnecessary stuff and added layers of his own. Hudlin isn't that level of a director and thus only a couple of times in the film did the movie break free from its mundane structure. If a great director had been making the film with this cast and this story, the movie could have been a legitimate contender for awards season. Instead I'll give it about a 6 out of 10. With that said, the IR was on point. The plot centers around Thurgood Marshall and a Jewish lawyer defending a black chauffeur (Sterling Brown) accused of raping a white woman that he works for (Kate Hudson). This was a real life case and I'm not spoiling anything I hope by revealing that what went down between them wasn't actually a crime. In flashbacks they showed what happened the fateful night and that meant we got not one but TWO love scenes between Brown and Hudson. To sound like a broken record it is not the type of intimacy that we often see between a black man and a white woman in a mainstream Hollywood film. It was kinda hot but I learned from an interview with Sterling that some stuff was left on the cutting room floor. Sterling said that initially he was seen naked (possibly Hudson too) but that in the actual release they had cut it and toned it down. But wait, there's more. There is a point in the film that Marshall is at a low point in the case and is sitting in a bar. The scene itself stretches on for minutes as the film cuts back and forth between Marshall and the Jewish lawyer. To be honest most of that scene is ridiculous and the ending of it is especially unrealistic. But anyway in the middle a very beautiful woman approaches Marshall and hits on him while asking for a drink. They start to chat. Later after a confrontation breaks out between Marshall and some white men, the woman apologizes for what occurred and says something about how men are men and women are women no matter their differences. Marshall hears this and the light bulb goes off in his head about what must have actually gone down between Brown and Hudson's characters. But being a dunce or perhaps just being bored in what I was seeing, I had assumed that the woman who approached Marshall was one of those typical redbone/bi-racial women Hollywood hires who are gorgeous and can look almost white in certain lighting. Imagine my surprise when I got home, checked out some red carpet stories about the Marshall premiere and saw pics of Sophia Bush with captions about how she was at the premiere of her new film. Her new film? Of the handful of white ladies in the movie I didn't recall her. So I did some investigating and it turns out she played the woman in the bar who approached Marshall and flirted with him. It suddenly made more sense that her final words to Marshall would unlock the key in his mind that allowed him to crack open the case. There was such dark and soft lighting in the bar that I assumed it was a lightskinned black female whose color had been drained because of how the scene was lit. Turns out it was a white actress, Sophia, all along. As sad as this may be, in 2017 a beautiful white woman in a mainstream film approaching a handsome black man in a bar because she is attracted him is almost revolutionary. And that it happened in a movie about a legendary black man that would draw an above average percentage of black moviegoers is particularly ballsy. I was expecting IR between Brown and Hudson. But I wasn't expecting the Chadwick Boseman scene with Sophia Bush even if it was harmless and led to nothing sexual between them. I suppose since no one has talked about the details of this movie that would mean no one here has seen it. If so I have to ask why do folks on this site go about talking up "Detroit" or "Marshall" or "Mountains Between Us" and about how important it is for such movies to do well only to not go out and see any of those films?
First and foremost thanks for the revies, @JamalSpunky I have seen the following movies that have IR in them in theatres: Detroit, Mountain Between Us, A United Kingdom, Get Out, It Comes At Night, Alien Covenant, . I haven't seen Marshall because me and my GF went out that weekend to celebrate her birthday. I don't get to the show that often. I post some here to let folks know, and on other social media platforms. but try and be very careful about how I talk about scenes and try not to spoil things. So far critics haven't been too kind to IR romantic movies this year outside of A United Kingdom which I believe should be considered for awards season(It was that good.) even though it came out in February. I hate that the Academy and Golden Globes and SAG stopped recognizing films that came out so early in the year, but that argument is for another discussion. Critics started out strong with The Mountain Between Us but more and more critics lowered the rating to 42% on rottentomatoes. I, like others who have seen it loved the movie, beautiful shots, the build up between Ben and Alice falling in love was done correctly, the ending was so-so. But overall pretty good movie. And like some other critics have said before some of these critics just aren't used to IR love stories between black men and white women so they don't understand how to take it in. It did okay given it's $35 Million budget at the box office bringing in so far $29,135,260. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=mountainbetweenus.htm Would of brought in more if more good reviews came out about it. Funny how you rarely hear bad reviews coming from audiences though. But two big stars in a IR romance getting that much in a month despite bad reviews so far it is one of the highest grossing romantic films this year. And some critics are still considering oscar nominations for it. Glad people are coming out for them and they are getting attention both in theatres and on television. This is what needs to happen to kill all myths and excuses Hollywood would have. Even bw that don't like THIS kind of IR have been drowned out to my surprise. Every now and then they would bother Idris about "all" these white women he has been making love to on screen. lol. But mostly positive tweets for his movie. But I said this before, the fan support is there. It is Hollywood that have to catch up.
Marshall isn't playing in my city anymore. So I missed my chance to see it in theatres so I will have to check it out when it comes out on DVD. Though that may be a while because I heard they are keeping it in theatres for a little while more for oscar consideration. They are doing the same with Detroit by bringing it back to theatres. I don't understand that strategy if the academy voters are going to see it anyway if it is submitted for consideration.
A lot of these kinds of movies I don't get to see until Netflix or so. I didn't see "I Am Not Your Negro" for example until pretty much a year after it came out
Yeah, I saw that in the theaters also. Luckily I have enough art house theaters in the area in which I live (although I was surprised to see it playing at an AMC too). This movie did very well at what is known as the Specialty Box Office. It may have made more money than any other black documentary.
