OVP: Harriet (2019)

Film: Harriet (2019)
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom, Jr., Joe Alwyn, Janelle Monae, Jennifer Nettles
Director: Kasi Lemmons
Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Actress-Cynthia Erivo, Original Song-"Stand Up")
Snap Judgment Ranking: 2/5 stars

We've talked about this many times on this blog, but I generally don't care for biopics.  Film is best when its able to tell a story without constraints, and real life oftentimes gets in the way of telling the most compelling stories.  This is, usually, my major complaint when it comes to biopics...but not with Harriet.  Harriet Tubman is truly one of the most remarkable people in the history of the United States, someone whose life feels so daring and worthy-of-celebration that it reads as unbelievable; her story is truly one of the cases where you can trot out the cliche "truth is stranger than fiction" and not imbue cynicism.  A woman who walked 100 miles to earn her freedom, and then went back to save her family & other slaves, always at tremendous peril to herself, hers is a life worth celebrating (and a visage far more worthy of being on the $20 bill than a slave-owning former president whose most notable legacy is letting 8000 Cherokee people die as he forced them from their homes), and it's about damned time that they make a movie about her.  Unfortunately, Harriet is buckled down by a paint-by-numbers approach to Tubman's incredible life, always compelling (in a similar way to last year's On the Basis of Sex), but never offering anything challenging from the filmmakers about their approach to the picture or to Tubman's life.

(If you need a spoiler alert, you should read more) The film, with the exception of the final scene, takes place entirely before the Civil War.  Minty (Erivo), who would later go by the name Harriet Tubman so we'll use that name throughout this review, is enslaved to a cruel master in Maryland and is in love with a free man named John (Zackary Momoh), who is forbidden from seeing her again after he tries to win her freedom.  Soon after we find out that Harriet is about to be sold by her master's wife (Nettles) and son (Alwyn) after his death, so she flees, by herself, to Philadelphia, eventually meeting abolitionist William Still (Odom) and a boardinghouse proprietor Marie (Monae) who take her in and get her a job.  Harriet feels she should be doing more to free the family she left behind, and despite protestations from Still, she goes back, first to get her brothers and then eventually to get other slaves, including her niece and parents.  The film ends with her leading a battle at Combahee River, which would result in 750 slaves being freed.

Before I get into the movie's shortcomings, I want to first focus on what you'll like about the movie.  It's a pretty quickly-paced biopic, considering the subject matter, and will fly by-there will be no looking at your phone to check the time during this movie.  Erivo is getting a lot of Oscar buzz, and while this isn't as challenging or as original of work as we saw last year in Widows or Bad Times at the El Royale during her first year on the screen, she is a commanding presence, and thankfully director Lemmons is smart enough to have her sing a bit throughout the film, as well as the closing credits number.

But there's not enough there below the surface of Harriet.  The movie's supporting characters feel incredibly generic-there's no growth or distinction for the figures other than what they mean for Harriet in that specific scene.  Even an actress that is as thoughtful as Janelle Monae can't seem to find something unique to say about the woman she is playing onscreen, and neither Alwyn nor Odom expand upon what is on the page.  We get to see some evolution in how Erivo approaches Harriet, her sternness and conviction growing with her consistent success, but when your film is brimming with notable actors surrounding your lead that basically do nothing and all feel 2-dimensional, the movie falls flat.  Harriet looks amazing, and considering the conversation about Tubman due to the idiotic partisanship over whether or not to put her on the $20 bill, it'll have been worth it if the film can change a few hearts about the untold stories of history, but this isn't a fine film, and other than Erivo, isn't a memorable one either.