The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Starring: Andra Day, Leslie Jordan, Miss Lawrence, Natasha Lyonne, Trevante Rhodes, Dusan Dukic, Erik LaRay Harvey, Garrett Hedlund, Rob Morgan
Directed by: Lee Daniels
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Music
2021

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Narcotics agents trail singer Billie Holiday (Andra Day) in an attempt to use her drug use to silence her.

Review:

Tim: I'm just going to say it- Lee Daniels is one of the most overrated directors I've ever seen. I've tried to give the guy a chance, but he consistently makes average movies that get far too much acclaim. Precious wasn't nearly as good as people made it out to be. The Paperboy had great moments but ultimately failed in big ways. The Butler was overly long and boring in too many places. And, The United States vs. Billie Holiday is easily the worst of those films. I'm honestly surprised this Hulu original has gotten as much praise as it has, included an Academy Award nomination.

At the end of this overly long movie (2 hours and 10 minutes, because of course) I didn't feel like we were given enough insight into Billie Holiday or the events depicted in this film. Daniels does her a disservice here (maybe the book does, too). We don't get to understand her character. Events kind of happen in the movie and it all feels brutal but ultimately pointless. I think there could have been a decent movie here with a solid message, but in Daniels' hands, it all gets muddled.

I was not a fan of how Holiday was depicted here. It felt like Daniels approached her character without a shred of curiosity as to what made her tick. What caused her to act like she does in this movie? Sure, we get some surface level answers, but the movie doesn't dig deeply enough into her character. This ends up making her a fairly unsympathetic character. The U.S. government acts horribly towards her, but those actions aren't just about one person, they are examples of systematic racism. The movie kind of touches on this but never delivers the knockout blow that it should have. Viewers should feel enraged by some of the events here. Instead, it mostly feels tedious. At the end of the movie, I had more questions about Billie Holiday than answers. I'm not suggesting this needed to be a traditional biopic, but it needed to approach her character with more understanding and curiosity. It paints her in broad strokes. She was obviously a drug abuser and comes across as incredibly selfish and self-centered here. Those might be aspects of her character, but too often this film approaches the subject from one-side only. I'm not sure if this was intentional or if Daniels' limited talent led him down this direction.

It's a shame, because Andra Day is solid as Billie Holiday. I don't think she was outstanding and I'm fairly shocked she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She gives a surprisingly good performance for a singer who's a non-actress. However, there are actual, trained actresses who gave better performances in 2020. Day was good, but never great in a mediocre movie. I'm not sure why the Academy went in this direction. Day doesn't help matters with our feelings towards Holiday. She plays her too one-note. A better, more experienced actress would have better portrayed Holiday's complexity. I chiefly blame Daniels and the script for this, but Day doesn't elevate the movie with her performance. She meets the film where it is, instead of transcending it.

Trevante Rhodes was strong here. He's a more experienced actor and being in similar movies to this certainly helped him give an effective performance. His character is treated with more curiosity and kindness than Holiday's, which is surprising. Rhodes was the highlight of the cast for me. Natasha Lyonne and Garrett Hedlund both give solid supporting performances. It's always nice to see Rob Morgan and he adds to the film as well.

Ultimately, I'm not entirely sure what's the point of Daniels' film. It's about 25 minutes too long which is par for the course with him. I didn't walk away from this movie feeling much of anything besides relief that it was over. I didn't get a powerful insight into Holiday's life. I didn't feel enough anger at the government. I didn't really care enough about what happened to this unsympathetic character. The United States vs. Billie Holiday should have been a worthwhile movie. Sadly, it is not.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Butler, Precious, Moonlight