Director Reginald Hudlin ("Django Unchained") has taken a script by Jacob and Michael Koskoff and created an informative movie that illustrates one of the cases Marshall handled while he was with the NAACP. This gives us a flavor for the times that shaped him.
Part of Hudlin's cast:
- Chadwick Bozeman (he has played Jackie Robinson and James Brown!) is Thurgood Marshall, born intelligent, arrogant and ambitious, this highly educated attorney hung out with the best, e.g., Langston Hughes and friends. He does not suffer fools gladly.
- Josh Gad ("Frozen" and "Beauty and the Beast") is Sam Friedman, the insecure Jewish fellow who gets ramrodded into accepting a criminal case even though he has only tried civil suits. Watch Marshall walk all over him ...repeatedly!
- Keisha Sharp ("Lethal Weapon") is Buster Marshall, the best wife for a man with Marshall's ambitions: she understands his long game.
- Sterling K. Brown ("This is Us") Joseph Spell has been accused of raping a white woman and he maintains he did NOT rape her.
- Kate Hudson ("Deepwater Horizon") Eleanor Strubing insists she was raped by the family chauffeur.
- James Cromwell ("The Promise") Judge Foster is a dogmatic iron-fisted dictator in his court room. His mind is made up.
- Dan Stevens ("Beauty and the Beast") Attorney for the Prosecution Loren Willis has the confidence born of his superior connections.
This PG-13 Biography/Drama has excellent depictions of how tough were the civil rights issues in the '60s and how the movement evolved. Be prepared for gunfire and physical violence; overwhelming prejudice and clever courtroom tactics. Be sure to stay for the wrap-up that plays during the closing credits. That's always satisfying....
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