Marshall

Marshall, a 2017 film directed by Reginald Hudlin, is a pretty good courtroom drama. But one has to wonder was this was the right film to make about Thurgood Marshall, the great lawyer and Supreme Court Justice?It takes place in 1941, when Marshall went to Bridgeport, Connecticut on behalf of the NAACP to defend a black man being tried for rape.

That's all fine, but the real spine of the film is the relationship between Marshall and a local attorney, Sam Friedman. The latter is not a criminal attorney, but gets pushed into sponsoring Marshall as an out-of-state counsel. The judge (James Cromwell) agrees, but with the stipulation that Marshall only work behind the scenes--he is not allowed to speak in court.

Basically, the film is about Friedman's character arc--at first he doesn't want the negative publicity. By the end, as we learn in a title card, he becomes a champion of Civil Rights legislation. Marshall, who is played firmly by Chadwick Boseman, is a bit of the "Magic Negro," who tells Friedman what to do and is resolute--even continuing the case after his wife has a miscarriage. We learn nothing about Marshall except that he's good at what he does.

There are better Marshall stories to tell, such as his arguing Brown v. Board of Education, or the Florida rape case that inspired the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Devil in the Grove. But instead, Hudlin decided to make a film in which Marshall props up a white man.

Okay. so I didn't get the movie I wanted, but what's there is fine. A wealthy woman (Kate Hudson) accuses her chauffeur (Sterling K. Brown) of raping her and throwing her in a reservoir. Marshall takes the case because Brown insists he is innocent. We get the usual courtroom drama stuff, such as leads that go nowhere, cat and mouse games played between lawyers, and grilling witnesses on the stand. It's good, and it has the serious background of racial discrimination.

Boseman, before he played Black Panther, played a lot of real-life figures, from Jackie Robinson to James Brown. He doesn't look like Marshall, but I could detect the gravelly voice of the man and what must have been extra confidence. Josh Gad, who plays Friedman, has the unfortunate task of playing something of a cliche, a Jewish nebbish who finally sees that discrimination against blacks is no less hurtful than anti-Semitism.

I recommend Marshall for those who like courtroom mysteries, but if you want to learn about Thurgood Marshall, you should watch a documentary or read a book about him.