Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Reginald Hudlin, Netflix.
This riveting biopic of Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice, centres on his pivotal work in a sensational case as a National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) lawyer.
Based on true events from Marshall’s career as a young lawyer, it retells a rape case, The State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell, in 1940. He travels the country defending people of colour who are wrongly accused of crimes because of racial prejudice.
Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) is sent to Connecticut to defend Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown), a chauffeur accused of rape by his white employer, Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson) in a case that has gripped the newspapers. In Bridgeport, insurance lawyer Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), who has never tried a criminal case before, is assigned by his brother to get Marshall admitted to the local bar, against his will.
At the hearing, Judge Foster (James Cromwell) agrees to admit Marshall, but forbids him from speaking during the trial, forcing Friedman to be Spell’s lead counsel.
The crusading lawyer then has to guide Friedman through notes, facial reactions and irritated sighs and grunts. He works out details of their strategy behind the scenes, then directs Friedman during jury selection and opening arguments.
One of the high points is when he advises his co-counsel to allow a woman of Southern white descent into the jury because of her assertive and questioning personality.
Director Hudlin (House Party, Boomerang) expertly adapts a script by the father-son screenwriting team of Michael and Jacob Koskoff that leaps off from a real case.
Boseman acts well in this 2017 compelling legal drama that shows Marshall battling through one of his career-defining cases. He played an instrumental role in promoting racial equality during the civil rights movement.
As a practicing attorney, Marshall argued a record-breaking 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them.
