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The camera is in close-up as Ma Rainey holds Dussie Mae from behind.
She croons in the young womans ear, delighting her with talk about finding her finer dresses to wear.
Ma Raineys bejeweled hands glide over Dussie Maes body.
The camera itself seems reluctant to detail the sensuality, but the films problems prove more expansive than that.
The bulk ofMa Raineys action homes in on a hothouse dynamic.
Ma Rainey, unsurprisingly, sees Levee as ungrateful and inexperienced.
Sex and violence ensue.
I dont want to obscure the rot at the heart of this film.
I cant get over the sallow nature of the color palette.
Shes egotistical and selfish.
At times, shes downright cruel.
These traits arent so much investigated as laid on thick without any care for the humanity that fuels them.
Her queer identity is so fleetingly interrogated, it feels like a questionably methodical choice for representation points.
Im not sure any actor could save this story.
Is this how the filmmakers view fat Black women?
Why make her largesse in terms of personality so strangely grotesque?
Why not give her juicy monologues, the kinds Chadwick Boseman is granted?
Sadly, Davis plays Ma Rainey as a caricature; shes never able to suggest interiority.
She tosses her weight from side to side.
She leers and licks her gold teeth.
Shes brimming with decisions that obscure rather than underscore anything about the woman behind the legend.
Chadwick Boseman, in his final film role, fares better.
Partially because the story is undoubtedly more interested in who his character is rather than what he represents.
Many of the important turns in the film hinge on Bosemans presence at the center.
Boseman gives the scene his all.
Hes anxious with overflowing energy.
His eyes are wild.
But again, the camerawork renders the monologue strangely claustrophobic, hobbling its potentialemotional depth.
Ma Raineyhandily demonstrates the strange place Black filmmaking occupies in Hollywood right now.
Yes, there are more opportunities and visibility for Black filmmakers and actors on the Hollywood stage.
