Movie Breakdown: The United States Vs. Billie Holiday

Pre-Screening Stance:

I don’t think I’ve seen anything that Lee Daniels has directed since Precious (2009), so my expectation level for him is pretty much zip as I head into The United States Vs Billie Holiday. On the flip side of that, I’m expecting quite a bit from Andra Day, whose turn as Holiday is supposedly award-worthy.

Post-Screening Ramble:

The good news here is that Andra Day is legit great in The United States Vs Billie Holiday – the voice is all kinds of right and her fiery eyes demand every bit of your attention. The bad news is that her noteworthy performance exists inside a total mess of a film. Director Lee Daniels clearly wanted to interject a lot about Holiday and her personal struggles – this film is largely centered around her repeat drug problems and her persistent issues with the FBI – but he also very obviously did not know the best way to present any of it. In his defense, the episodic narrative does make sense here, as it takes place at different times over a number of years, but it just has no flow to it whatsoever. In fact, by the end of the film I found myself entirely agitated by the entirely jarring way that its story is told. Also, there is practically no humor on display in this movie, which is another reason that it’s a total slog. You’d think that something at least partly fun would come around with all the heroine and glitzy performances, but nope, The United States Vs Billie Holiday is only geared to take itself far too seriously.

This film feels like someone took note of every bummery moment in Billie Holiday’s life and then decided to haphazardly slap them all together. If you’ve got two hours to spare, The United States Vs Billie Holiday does contain some wonderful work by Andra Day, but overall it’s just a tough one to get through. The film will hit Hulu this Friday, February 26.

One Last Thought:

Garrett Hedlund is particularly bad as Harry Anslinger in this movie. I furrowed my brow at him numerous times.