Every year I watch all the Oscar contenders, including films which contain a nominated acting performance. I looked at the list this year and 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' stood out clearly as being the one that interested me the least. I have never heard a Billie Holiday song before, the plot didn't sound very interesting and the IMDb rating was significantly lower than all the other films. Sometimes those films that you least expect to like are the ones that blow you away. Sadly that was not the case on this occasion. I didn't have much fun with this one at all.
Andra Day has been nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards and it couldn't be more deserved. The fact she shines so brightly in a film that is so messy and dull only makes it that much better. I'm loving this trend lately of singers taking on acting roles and knocking it out of the park. Her singing was beautiful and she played the part perfectly, never skipping a scene. It wasn't a glamorous role, but she was willing to get dirty and gritty and I respect that.
The films biggest problem is that it is just so dull. There is no tension or drama created. We are basically just told that this woman is a train-wreck - now watch her for two hours. That's not much fun. Also I understand that she was far from a perfect person, but when she's our lead character and she's this selfish and self-destructive it is almost impossible to side with her. I'm not sure what the better way would have been to go about making a film like this, but all I know is this version was pretty unpleasant to watch.
Andra Day has been nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards and it couldn't be more deserved. The fact she shines so brightly in a film that is so messy and dull only makes it that much better. I'm loving this trend lately of singers taking on acting roles and knocking it out of the park. Her singing was beautiful and she played the part perfectly, never skipping a scene. It wasn't a glamorous role, but she was willing to get dirty and gritty and I respect that.
The films biggest problem is that it is just so dull. There is no tension or drama created. We are basically just told that this woman is a train-wreck - now watch her for two hours. That's not much fun. Also I understand that she was far from a perfect person, but when she's our lead character and she's this selfish and self-destructive it is almost impossible to side with her. I'm not sure what the better way would have been to go about making a film like this, but all I know is this version was pretty unpleasant to watch.