Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Probably the most deceptive trailer I've seen in years, if not ever...

The cast is great, but there's almost no music, no band performance (except for a brief moment at the very beginning), only musicians talking among themselves in a closed rehearsal room... I expected to see them on tour, playing for audiences etc... Like the trailer implies, doesn't it?

The few songs featured are great, though. So much so that it leaves you with a bitter taste of too little.

A lesson in the art of acting and film making, as an exceptional cast of extremely talented actors portray several hours in a recording studio, the tensions as taut as any wire, the crimes of the times and their effects on those involved in full view - crimes perpetuated into today, sadly.

I would have much rather seen a proper biopic of Ma Rainey than this movie version of a play where, with the exception of one chap banging on and on about his shoes, very little actually happens.

Horrific overacting and a script that rambles and goes nowhere. Most of the film is taken up with individual stories about how the white man was evil, which became very tiresome very quickly. A few very daft plot twists that never went anywhere. This was more 'panto' than serious drama and those involved should be ashamed of the mess they produced. This film literally had no redeeming features

It's a beautiful movie. The performances are amazing and mind blowing specially by Viola Davis, that gives the year's best female performance, and Chadwick Boseman. The character study is great as well. The screenplay is awesome with many interesting and powerful lines. Cinematography, music, costumes and locations are all nice too. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a very nice movie but still it feels like it's missing something.