by Christopher James
How can a remarkable life lead to an unremarkable film? On paper, The United States vs. Billie Holiday has so much going for it. Oscar nominee Lee Daniels is an inspired, live wire choice for director and Andra Day makes a fantastic acting debut. She more than rises to the inimitable challenge of playing a legend like Billie Holiday. Unfortunately, The United States vs. Billie Holiday falls into a common biopic trap. All of the information feels a mile wide and a foot deep. We breeze through so much of Billie’s life, but we never get a moment to digest what we’re seeing or piece together a central character. The movie moves quickly through all events in Holiday’s life, leaving the audience behind in the process...
The movie wastes no time setting up its central conflict. Okay, that’s not true. It does make us endure an interview framing device with Leslie Jordan in a horrific wig, but we’ll forget (but not forgive) that for now. Billie Holiday has risen to mainstream success, but attracted the negative attention of the government primarily because of her song “Strange Fruit.” The head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund) makes it his mission to silence the singer by any means necessary. He entrusts Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes), the first black FBN officer, with the task of infiltrating Holiday’s crew with the intention of collecting dirt and arresting her. Holiday’s excessive drug use provides Fletcher with an easy charge to convict, leading the singer to rocky decades of government surveillance and legal woes, including a stint in jail.
Andra Day nails Billie Holiday's incredible vocal stylings and brings just as much firepower to her scenes off the stage.No matter how many times the narrative zigs and zags, one thing remains constant. Andra Day is a star. Everybody knows the “Rise Up” singer has mighty pipes that are put to good use in the role of Billie Holiday. What can’t be taught is starpower. From the moment she arrives on screen, Day seizes the audience’s attention. The way she drapes herself on various pieces of furniture, takes long drags of cigarettes or gives a devilish grin paints a vivid character portrait. She recognizes the core of Billie Holiday is her confidence. This quality is what the movie should’ve built its conflict around. Holiday saw herself as a star with clout, which allowed her to push boundaries. The FBI’s efforts to silence her came out of a desire to humble her. It’s not just that what she was singing about would serve as a rallying cry to African Americans. The fact that a black woman at this time possessed such gumption was something the government wanted to strip from her. That’s why so much of her punishment was about humiliation. They wanted to take this strong, powerful figure down a peg. However, her resilience always shone through.
Day comes out as the diamond in the rough, as the movie never lets anyone else really shine. Holiday takes a liking to Jimmy Fletcher instantly and strikes up a torrid love affair with him. Despite many effective sex scenes, Rhodes and Day never build a believable dynamic outside of the bedroom. Unfortunately, this is a symptom of Jimmy Fletcher being underwritten as a character but gifted with ample screen time. Judas and the Black Messiah did a much better job of examining what it is like to be a black man working as an informant for the government. In that film, Lakeith Stanfield gives us a more complete and conflicted portrait of William O’Neal and his struggles working with the US government. The United States vs. Billie Holiday wants to build up Jimmy and Billie’s relationship as a salacious couple, but isn’t as interested as delving into Jimmy’s unique and conflicted point of view.
Andra Day and Trevante Rhodes make for an attractive on-screen couple. However, Rhodes' Jimmy Fletcher is never fleshed out enough to be a strong male lead.
None of the other supporting cast is given much room to shine. Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Miss Lawrence light up the screen whenever they are shown. Unfortunately, their roles as Billie’s entourage are nothing more than concerned sounding boards. Billie describes her fellow tourmates as her “chosen family,” but not enough time is spent building or dramatizing these important bonds.
The movie and its marketing seem to understand that the most salient throughline is Holiday’s powerful hit song, “Strange Fruit.” The song vividly conjures the imagery of lynchings in the South that traumatized Billie throughout her youth. It’s an incredible example of how powerful, forceful and galvanizing art and music can be. The response from the FBI is also such a glaring example of censorship and racism within this country. All of this should be enough for one movie. By biting off more than it can chew, director Lee Daniels is robbed of some of his trademark looseness as a director. He excels when he’s given enough breathing room to put his characters in an interesting vacuum, allowing them to interact with the world and other actors in almost an improvisational manner. Lee Daniels’ The Butler works so much better as a family drama than a historical biopic because Daniels gives Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey room to build a lived in, dynamic portrait of a marriage, full of ups and downs. There are moments where we see some of Daniels’ traditional big swings. An extended scene between Holiday and her bandmates while under the influence is the closest the movie comes to feeling loose.
"The United States vs. Billie Holiday" is almost worth watching solely to try and figure out Natasha Lyonne's accent as Tallulah Bankhead, whom Billie Holiday has a romantic relationship with.
The casting of Natasha Lyonne as Tallulah Bankhead (complete with the most insane accent work of the year) is another hallmark of what I love about a Lee Daniels film. Even if it doesn’t quite work, it grabs the attention of the audience. The United States vs. Billie Holiday could’ve used many more moments like this. For as interesting as the story is and as good as Andra Day is, the movie struggles to maintain an audience’s interest. It’s moving too fast through its facts that it forgets to keep us engaged, much less entertained. C
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The United States vs. Billie Holiday is available to stream exclusively on Hulu now.