'MARSHALL': Four Stars (Out of Five)
A courtroom drama/biopic about the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, and one of his first big cases. The movie stars Chadwick Boseman as Marshall, and it was directed by Reginald Hudlin (some fun trivia, Hudlin wrote the Marvel comic book 'Black Panther', from 2005 to 2008, and Boseman is now playing the character in the Marvel Studios movies). The screenplay was written by Michael and Jacob Koskoff. Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown, Dan Stevens and James Cromwell all costar in the legal drama. It's received mostly positive reviews from critics, and it's also a modest hit at the Box Office as well. I enjoyed it.
The story takes place in 1940 Bridgeport Connecticut. It revolves around Thurgood Marshall (Boseman), an NAACP lawyer who was traveling around the country defending people wrongly accused of crimes due to their color. He's sent to Connecticut to defend a chauffer, named Joseph Spell (Brown), who was accused of raping his employer, a white woman named Eleanor Strubing (Hudson). An insurance lawyer, named Sam Friedman (Gad), attempts to get Marshall admitted to the local bar, but the judge (Cromwell) refuses to allow him tospeak during the trial. So Friedman is forced to become Spell's lead counsel, with Marshall assisting him through notes and whispers. The movie is a pretty routine courtroom drama, but it's much more involving because of it's social commentary (on the racism of that time). It's got a great cast, especially Boseman in the lead, who makes a very powerful and charismatic leading man. The film is involving, and aptly directed, but it's also mostly predictable. It's still a lot of fun to watch though, and movies about racial injustice are always important.
A courtroom drama/biopic about the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, and one of his first big cases. The movie stars Chadwick Boseman as Marshall, and it was directed by Reginald Hudlin (some fun trivia, Hudlin wrote the Marvel comic book 'Black Panther', from 2005 to 2008, and Boseman is now playing the character in the Marvel Studios movies). The screenplay was written by Michael and Jacob Koskoff. Josh Gad, Kate Hudson, Sterling K. Brown, Dan Stevens and James Cromwell all costar in the legal drama. It's received mostly positive reviews from critics, and it's also a modest hit at the Box Office as well. I enjoyed it.
The story takes place in 1940 Bridgeport Connecticut. It revolves around Thurgood Marshall (Boseman), an NAACP lawyer who was traveling around the country defending people wrongly accused of crimes due to their color. He's sent to Connecticut to defend a chauffer, named Joseph Spell (Brown), who was accused of raping his employer, a white woman named Eleanor Strubing (Hudson). An insurance lawyer, named Sam Friedman (Gad), attempts to get Marshall admitted to the local bar, but the judge (Cromwell) refuses to allow him tospeak during the trial. So Friedman is forced to become Spell's lead counsel, with Marshall assisting him through notes and whispers. The movie is a pretty routine courtroom drama, but it's much more involving because of it's social commentary (on the racism of that time). It's got a great cast, especially Boseman in the lead, who makes a very powerful and charismatic leading man. The film is involving, and aptly directed, but it's also mostly predictable. It's still a lot of fun to watch though, and movies about racial injustice are always important.