Great actors and good source material in the play.
Sadly, this film falls flat despite the really good performances.
The problem is common to lots of films made from plays. In theatre everything is written to be contained to the stage and in the audience's imagination; in movies the more expansive the view the better so it feel cheap and affected when it's filmed like a 80s multi camera sitcom.
I wish they had taken Ma Rainey's story and told it on a much larger scale, which the format would have allowed. This could have been done within the relationships of the same characters and taken inspiration from the play with great impact, but trying to transpose the action so literally is a fail for narrative.
Review of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
