Rustin

Rustin is another extremely conventional biopic about a person who was anything but that. It remains really good thanks to a central performance more than capable of single-handedly carrying the film and the fact that its story, even when told conventionally, is incredibly powerful.

Shining a spotlight on someone who did the extraordinary without being remembered like his peers, Colman Domingo delivers a perfect performance that's endlessly charming. Dustin Lance Black and Julian Breece create a screenplay that gives Domingo plenty of speeches which he performs in a way that never feels showy, always heartfelt and real.

The best aspect of George C. Wolfe's direction is the pacing. It moves fast without ever feeling rushed and is always further ahead than it seems. Branford Marsalis' jazz heavy score really works, reflecting the chaos of trying to arrange a march of this scale as well as the way all the leaders bounce off each other.

The prevailing thought I had watching Rustin was that the events depicted were probably exactly how they happened in real life. If this were a documentary that'd be fine but as an actual narrative it just made the whole thing feel very surface level. It has none of the style of movies like Selma or BlackkKlansman which made their depictions of this period so captivating to watch. I don't think the film tackles the civil rights issue in any interesting way and while Bayard Rustin's story absolutely deserves to be told I don't think its importance comes through in the finished product. The whole march that the film is building up to just comes and goes before it has a chance to have any impact. Colman Domingo is great, he absolutely does justice to this character and makes the film at least watchable but he deserved a much better script. An important story in and of itself doesn't create for a good narrative without any kind of vision and that's sorely what Rustin was lacking for me.

Unsung heroes often don't get their day. Fortunately, however, for civil rights activist Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), principal organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, he's finally getting his due in this new biopic about the many challenges he faced in bringing this event into being. The flamboyant, outspoken, Black gay organizer faced much opposition to his proposal, including, surprisingly enough, from an African-American community that was apprehensive about the message his appointment and presence would send to a still-reluctant public in its support for equal rights measures, including such noteworthy figures as NAACP leader Roy Wilkins (Chris Rock) and Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Jeffrey Wright). Things were even tense at times between Rustin and his longtime friend, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (Aml Ameen), for whom Rustin once served as his chief aide and advisor. Then there was Rustin's sexual orientation, a matter he didn't exactly hide, especially in his less-than-discreet relationship with married preacher Elias Taylor (Johnny Ramey), something other activists feared could undo all the progress they had made up to that time. But, as a determined champion, Rustin forged ahead, despite these hardships, culminating in the largest peaceful protest ever staged in the nation's capital. To the film's credit, director George C. Wolfe has compiled an informative period piece biography, even if the approach is somewhat conventional and, admittedly, gets off to a rather rocky start in the first half hour. However, that's made up for by a strong second half and the picture's powerhouse cast, including Domingo (a strong Oscar nominee contender), Wright and Ameen, as well as Glynn Turman and CCH Pounder in fine supporting performances. While this offering may not be everything it could have been, "Rustin" nevertheless reminds us of what so many people fought so hard to achieve - and why it's so important that we strive to protect those accomplishments against backsliding and those who might seek to undermine the fulfillment of those much-cherished attainments.

Over the past few years there has been numerous, very good films detailing the tumultuous times of the 1960's - and many of them have been Oscar Nominated. From THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 to JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH to SELMA, one can get quite a history education by watching these films.

Add to this, RUSTIN, with Colman Domingo Oscar Nominated for portraying the titular character, Bayard Rustin - a gay, black man - who Organized the famed March on Washington in 1963.

Colman is a deserved Oscar Nominee for portraying a character that is strong in his beliefs - including his sexual preferences - and is not afraid to let anyone know that he believes that African-Americans...and homosexuals...deserve equal rights under the law.

Being both Black AND Gay in the 1960's in America is not an easy thing to endure.

And so this film tells us. Again...and again...and again. Such to the point that one loses the main thrust of the film - the pivotal March on Washington that was a seminal moment in the 1960's Civil Rights Movement - and, instead gets bogged down in the Soap Opera-y antics of a philandering, gay black man. And...this is too bad for Director George C. Wolfe (MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM) has the makings of a strong, effective film - with a charismatic, engrossing central performance - but loses the way of the film as it descends into melodrama.

And, perhaps, that is the film that Wolfe wanted to make all along, but it comes at the detriment of the larger themes that could have been mined.

Clearly many in the African-American Performing Community thought highly of the project to appear in small, almost cameo, roles. From fellow 2023 Oscar Nominees Jeffrey Wright (for AMERICAN FICTION) to Da'Vine Joy Randolph (THE HOLDOVERS) to Chris Rock, Audra McDonald, CCH Pounder and Glynn Turman, one could feel to star power on the screen.

If only Director Wolfe and screenwriters Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black had given them a better vehicle to star in.

The themes were there, they were just missed.

Letter Grade: B (solid performances for Domingo and others)

7 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)

I always love it when the unsung heroes of history get their fair due - I must admit that I did not know much about Rustin before this biopic.

I think the beginning was fabulous, it had great speed and the camerawork was good but then for me it somehow did not balance well the depiction of the work and his personal life. Also, I hoped the events of the march would be portrayed more but it was somehow almost like pushed in quickly into the last 5 minutes of the movie with no real culmination.

Also, what is it with Americans never acknowledging the rest of the world? In the end it says something like "...with 250 000 people making it the biggest peaceful protest to date." Is it so hard to add "in America" in the end? E.g. The Baltic Way in 1989 when 2 million people from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania joined hands to form the longest unbroken human chain in history to protest their illegal occupation by the Soviet Union in 1940 after the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact in 1939? As a history-enthusiast I just don't like such half-true statements being put out there.

Otherwise, solid movie with a very good lead and I think it is important that more people get to know about those who have thought for the rights of all.