The USA vs. Billie Holiday (2021)

I just had to write a review because this movie was so good.I need someone to talk to about it. Now I love Lady sings the Blues but this movie was way more informative and explained so much that Lady Sings the Blues left out.

Fmovies: The title is a tip-off that this isn't going to be a general bio-pic. It's a prosecution of a case. Director Lee Daniels has never been accused of being a subtle filmmaker, but here he and writer Suzan-Lori Parks are weilding a mighty gavel. It's a miracle than novice singer turned actress Andra Day still shines.

The basic facts here are indisputable: Billie Holiday was hounded by the government, had a series of bad marriages and died at a tragically young age (44). Still, Daniels' approach of dwelling solely on the abuses of Holiday's life, whether they be legal, physical, sexual or narcotics- related, does a disservice not only to the singer, but to the 'case' he is trying to make. Daniels uses a catalog of tricks which sometimes work - using 16mm and 35mm film for flashbacks (although using digital 'scratches' on the celluloid is a hoary cliche); And some that don't - a long heroin fueled fever dream.

What's missing here is Holiday's artistry. Her inner soul. She had affairs with famous, successful people of both sexes -- but there's no evidence here of why they would be attracted to her. Surely, she had a wit and a charm that goes beyond being an attractive famous chanteuse. Parks' script focuses on the blunt-spoken, yet needy part of her personality, not her passions.

Day does a remarkable job in a blunt, honest way that isn't all actor-ticks. And, unsurprisingly, the singer shines on stage during the performance scenes. It's a breakthrough for her, even if the film around her is in shambles. One is much better off with one of the numerous Documentaries on Holiday.

Andra Day is very talented and she definitely has potential as an actress with the right director and screenplay. Her singing is excellent in the film - she hits every one of Billie Holiday's hauntingly earthy inflections. The problem is the film itself. It is very confusing with characters in and out who are not explained. We don't learn a lot of substance about Billie Holiday's life - at least anything verifiable - except what we already knew from Lady Sings the Blues. Perhaps my expectations were too high, no pun intended, but I expected this film to give audiences a more intimate picture of her life - her as a complex woman, not just a singing caricature with a heroin needle in her arm. Instead, this is another one of those biopics where the lead actor or actress does more character imitation than provide true insights into the actual subject and her life. This is also one of those films where the singing goes on far too long, but when that happens you know it's because the writing and screenplay are usually thin and the music is used to overcompensate for that. One of the most disturbing things for me is that the film shows a lot of men in and out of her life, and even tries to create romance out of a viciously violent relationship, her and Lewis McCabe. I need films to stop pretending that Black women love to have their asses stomped by the men in their lives. That's NOT love so don't sugar coat it on film. It's even worse that this is a very light complected woman who never has a single bruise on her face when we see her, even as he's constantly smacking and punching her. I think this film probably could have been a lot better with a different director and certainly with a much better screenplay.

The USA vs. Billie Holiday fmovies. I have been a Lady Day fan as long as I can remember. I am always skeptical when a movie or book come out that they will tell an accurate story. This movie was as honest as they come. It is hard to portray the very complicated life of Billie Holiday in just a few hours, but they pulled it off. The struggles, the defiance, the broken humanness, the brutal authenticity; it's all there. If you only ever read one book or watch one movie to learn about Lady Day, make this the one!

The movie is a bit slow at first but then it got me hooked up to it really fast. I loved andra day's performance so much. Everytime she sang, I felt it

This version is so much more like the way I pictured Lady Day. Miss Day did an excellent job. This was raw and much better then the sugar coated Motown version. I would have given it 10 stars but it seemed very disjointed in the beginning.