Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Release Date: 12/18/20 Netflix
Genre: Drama
Rating: R
Director: George C. Wolfe
Studio(s): Netflix
Running Time: 93 mins.

Cast: Viola Davis as Ma Rainey; Chadwick Boseman as Levee; Glynn Turman as Toledo; Colman Domingo as Cutler; Michael Potts as Slow Drag; Taylour Paige as Dussie Mae; Jonny Coyne as Sturdyvant; Jeremy Shamos as Irvin; Dusan Brown as Sylvester.

Story: Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey (Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) – who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry – spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories, truths, and lies that will forever change the course of their lives. Adapted from August Wilson’s play.

Details: With his career cut short, it seems that Netflix’s upcoming Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, an adaptation of the famed August Wilson play, will be Boseman’s last film. Here’s what we know about the movie. It’s based on the August Wilson play of the same name. The story follows the members of a band in 1920s Chicago as they await the arrival of the lead singer, Ma Rainey (Viola Davis), for a recording session. As the day unfolds, Ma fights with her white producers for control over her music, and ambitious trumpeter Levee (Boseman) lets his hot head get the best of him. Source(s): Wikipedia; IMDB; Netflix.