KRR: So, Breaking Down 'The United States vs. Billie Holiday' and the Race for Best Actress.

You could be forgiven if you were totally unaware that Hulu released a movie about Billie Holiday last week. That was until, to everyone's surprise, Andra Day won best actress in a drama at the Golden Globes on Sunday for her portrayal of Lady Day. Suddenly this biopic was at the top of most audiences' watch lists. 

So, in honor of Andra Day's Golden Globe win, I'm gonna break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of The United States vs. Billie Holiday, and preview the everchanging Oscar race for best actress. But first - a trailer! (In which, the first scene of the trailer doesn't even appear in the movie! Love that!)

 

-SPOILERS AHEAD-

Okay, so first of all, that trailer is just flat out awful. I could write an entire blog about the many ways that trailer misrepresents the end product, it's that bad. But instead, I'll just focus on the end product. That is what we're all here for after all. 

The United States vs. Billie Holiday tells the story of the last decade+ of the esteemed singer's life, focusing specifically - though not especially focused - on her heroin use, sex addiction, vocal cries for civil rights, and pursuit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is a riveting story - one deserving of much more than a movie, something I rarely say - with clear parallels to today's America. Unfortunately, the movie is just as clunky and cliché as its title. 

This Lee Daniels' film is both overwhelming and underwhelming simultaneously, by touching on every complicated aspect of Lady Day's late life, while tackling none of them. Daniels barrages audiences with scene after scene from her life (an arrest, a funeral, a concert, a trial, etc.) and while some of those scenes touch on very worthwhile topics - the federal government labeling black celebrities as domestic terrorists, for example, or the use of drugs as a means of escape, or Billie Holiday's sexual fluidity, or music as a form of protest - none of the scenes dig deep enough to examine even the shallowest root of the portrayed issue. The 130 minute runtime is already long, but the uneven pacing and overpacked plot leave no space for the audience (or the on-screen issues) to breathe. 

Bonus points, however, for the puppy.

In regards to its screenplay, The United States vs. Billie Holiday feels like a first draft Lee Daniels was afraid to trim down. By attempting to capture so much, it fails to accomplish much of anything. Outside of the writers' room, the film still can't seem to determine what it wants to be. Why are there random scenes in black-and-white when 95% of the film is in color? Why does the film begin as a retelling of Holiday's life in an interview, abandon the idea, then suddenly return to that scene at the end? If the movie is supposed to be about the complicated nature between Billie Holiday and the federal government, why then is so little time spent fleshing out the villainous nature of her prosecutors? Why is Billie Holiday's sexuality all but entirely erased from the narrative, despite her bisexuality being well documented? Why does the director feel the need to withhold her performance of "Strange Fruit," only to finally place it at an anticlimactic moment? All of these questions detract from what would otherwise be a fascinating and important biopic.

That being said - all of that being said - Andra Day's portrayal of Billie Holiday is magnificent. She captures the gruffness, sensuality, vulnerability, and above all else, voice of Holiday in a special way. To rise above the screenplay's failures is a testament to Day's performance. She dwarfs all other aspects of this film in a gigantic way. Of course, Day has already been awarded at the Globes for that depiction (in what was one of the sweetest moments of the night, at that), but how does her performance stack up against her peers this year? Let's break that down.

I was as shocked as you were. Also, I just adore you, Andra.

Before we get into the performances, I just want to make clear that I'm more focused on the Oscar race for best actress this year than I am on best actor. There's two reasons for that. The first is that there are some really spectacular performances up for consideration for this particular award, and the second reason is that the best actor race isn't exactly a race. Chadwick Boseman is going to win best actor posthumously for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Unless there's a "holy fuck, what just happened?!" moment, that category is all sewn up. So, that means that the real competition for best lead comes down to the women in film, and while I admire and respect Day's performance, it isn't a runaway favorite. In fact, I'm not even sure it's a lock to be nominated.

So, here's the Oscar primer: There are six women in contention for best lead actress coming into the Academy's nomination period, which begins tomorrow. Two of them are locks. That's Frances McDormand for Nomadland and Viola Davis for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. Unless the Academy is feeling extra-outrageous this year, their names will pop up. Then there's a middle-tier of actresses that should be considered favorites to be nominated, but not quite locks. The first is Carey Mulligan for Promising Young Woman. I'd be shocked if she wasn't recognized, but if the controversy with the film bleeds over, she could get snubbed. Alongside her in this middle-tier is Andra Day. Now, I don't think this was the case last week. Her win at the Golden Globes propelled her and The United States vs. Billie Holiday deeper into the Oscar conversation than the movie deserves. Hopefully Day will be the only nomination for the film, but a shut-out in all other categories isn't super likely either. The last two women, the tentative nominees fighting for the final spot, are Rosamund Pike for I Care A Lot and Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman.

Fake Trauma v. Real Trauma

Now, I pray to the Oscar gods every night that Kirby gets the nomination over Pike, because, first of all, I like Pieces of a Woman vastly more than I Care A Lot, and second of all, because I think Kirby not only deserves the nom, but deserves the win. Much like Andra Day, Vanessa Kirby is able to elevate an uneven and often boring screenplay with an incredibly vulnerable performance. Pike is just being a bad Instagram-bitch (and barely scraping together an American accent). Why, you might be wondering, am I debating Vanessa Kirby and Rosamund Pike in the middle of a blog about The United States vs. Billie Holiday? Because Pike won best actress for a comedy/musical last Sunday at the Globes, and there's a very good chance that won't translate into a nomination for the Oscars. And if Rosamund Pike, an Academy darling, has a chance of not getting nominated for a film a lot more people are talking about than Billie Holiday, then maybe - just maybe - there's a chance that Andra Day won't get nominated either. In fact, it's entirely plausible that both Rosamund Pike and Vanessa Kirby get nominated, leaving Day out to dry.

At the end of the day, I hope that's not the case. I sincerely hope (and believe) Andra Day will be recognized as the best part of this film. (Though I also hope it doesn't come at the expense of Vanessa Kirby.) If there was ever a reason to screen The United States vs. Billie Holiday it's for the work that Andra Day put in. It's likely that very soon the Academy will only bolster the incentive to give this overworked and underwritten film a watch. 

Allow me to reiterate one last time: Andra Day is the only good thing about this movie. Okay, that's all.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday KRR: 5.3/10