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“The United States vs. Billie Holiday”
Andra Day’s portrayal of Billie Holiday deserves her a best actress Oscar nomination. She follows Halle Berry (she won) in director Lee Daniels’ “Monster’s Ball” (2001).
The strength of his film is Day’s singing. She brings Holiday back to passionate life so that the audience can revisit her performances on stage.
However, it tells a wicked story of how Holiday’s tragic addiction to heroin resulted in her death in 1959 at the age of 44. Pursued for years by the FBI’s narcotics division that sought to destroy her, you need to know little more than the despicable fact that they arrested her while she was dying.
Though the film has a great cast, Holiday’s three marriages did little to help her overcome her drug addiction. In a sense she was caught in a vise, with the FBI pulling the lever on one end and her husbands doing the same, living off the money she earned.
Regardless, let me point out the wonderful performance of Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Roslyn, Holiday’s devoted assistant. Not remotely caring that she packed on a few extra pounds, she is one funny woman who helps Holiday survive her weaknesses.
The film is not helped by its unnecessary length of 2 hours, 10 minutes. Holiday’s ordeal in many ways becomes yours, and for some it will become a difficult film to embrace when the ending is no surprise.•
“If Anything Happens I Love You”
Find a way to see the short film “If Anything Happens I Love You.” It tells a story involving a family’s loss that will leave you transfixed. You will cry without any embarrassment.
You see an obviously depressed husband and wife eating on opposite ends of a dinner table. They say nothing. He ends up watching TV while drinking and she forces herself to do the laundry.
While removing clothes from the dryer, she finds a child’s shirt. Wrapping it around her face, she cries uncontrollably. You learn then that their daughter has died.
After their cat opens their child’s door, the couple sit on her bed and recreate memorable moments of her life. That leads them to the day they dropped her off at school, where life ended.
You see an empty school hallway that is followed by screams and gunshots. You then see the child’s cellphone on a classroom floor with a text to her parents, “If anything happens I love you.” You will never experience such agony in any film.
As I left the theater, I was reminded of two things. The first is the emotional agony of a friend, a divorced mother of a fourth-grade daughter. The two of them joined relatives for a trip to Florida last fall. A wreck occurred on the drive south, and her daughter was killed. Since then, she has been emotionally comatose. Like the parents in this film, it was impossible to heal. She is in the process of selling her house while abandoning her profession. She struggles to find a way to live an honorable life to pay tribute to her daughter. She just wants to see her in the clouds smiling as she says, “I love you, Mom.”
The second thought is the sad fact that we do nothing to address gun violence in this country. Children are shot and killed in school, shoppers are gunned down in Colorado and a doctor, his wife and grandchildren are killed in their South Carolina home. Our political response? “I’ll pray for them.”
That is shocking nonsense and we know it. The death of children and relatives devastates families. We need to do something more than pray. In the name of parents who were forced to bury their children, let’s address gun safety.•
• Robert Hammerle practices criminal law in Indianapolis. When he is not in the courtroom or the office, Bob can be found at one of his favorite movie theaters preparing to review the latest films. To read more of his reviews, visit www.bigmouthbobs.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
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