In “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” tensions and temperatures escalate throughout the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago. A band of musicians await the arrival of one trailblazing performer, the Mother of the Blues, Ma Rainey. She’s played by Viola Davis, the Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress for another August Wilson adaptation, director Denzel Washington’s “Fences.” (Washington is also a producer on “Ma Rainey’s.”) Late to the session, Ma Rainey stirs up ado with her white manager and producer over the control of her music. Meanwhile, the band waits in a claustrophobic rehearsal room, where trumpeter Levee (Boseman), with ambitions of his own, spurs his fellow musicians into revealing truths that will change all their lives.
The movie has buzz for Boseman’s posthumous (and final) performance. Netflix is planning to campaign Boseman in the Lead Actor category at the Oscars, with his turn in Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” (also for Netflix) vying for Supporting Actor. The cast of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” also includes Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, and Michael Potts. Check out a roundup of first reactions from Twitter below.
— Anne Thompson (@akstanwyck) November 15, 2020
— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) November 15, 2020
— Jazz Tangcay (@jazzt) November 15, 2020
— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) November 15, 2020
— David “Trump = Loser” Poland (@DavidPoland) November 15, 2020
— Clayton Davis (@AwardsCircuit) November 15, 2020
— Scott Feinberg (@ScottFeinberg) November 15, 2020
— Carlos Aguilar (@Carlos_Film) November 15, 2020
— Charles McNulty (@CharlesMcNulty) November 15, 2020 Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
