Regina King has my vote in this moving biopic.
Shirley Chisholm became the first African-American woman to elected in the United States Congress and to run for POTUS. As we’re watching her made-for-Netflix biopic “Shirley,” we know she didn’t win. After all, no woman has won any election in our history. But that doesn’t mean we can’t support Chisholm’s courage and spirit, and what she stood for.
Regina King (in her first acting role since “The Harder They Fall”) has the voice and consistency to get into character as Chisholm, while writer/director John Ridley (“12 Years a Slave,” “Jimi: All Is by My Side”) expresses the stepping stone about how she tries to transition from one rank to the next.
The movie opens with her and her husband Conrad (Michael Cherrie) arriving nearly late for her ceremony, and then, her getting disillusioned by her only being assigned on the Agricultural Committee. Her husband believes she needs to be patent, because her time will come.
And light bulb, she decides to run for President, which may sound impossible for her, considering the system of white men winning. And I use the separate terms “white” and “men,” because, like I said, no woman has ever won the election. But she’ll do anything to enter the election and win.
Her campaign team consists of her husband, her chief advisor Wesley McDonald “Mac” Holder (the late Lance Reddick), her finance manager Arthur Hardwick Jr. (Terrence Howard), her campaign manager Stanley Townsend (Brian Stokes Mitchell), the young Black Panther Barbara Lee (Christina Jackson), and the young student councilor Robert Gottlieb (Lucas Hedges).
There are some risks to her campaign, like how she visits politician George Wallace (W. Earl Brown) in the hospital, after surviving an assassination. There are also challenges like her family drama, which regards her estranged relationship with her sister Muriel (Reina King, Regina King’s real sister) and their mother (Charlene Willis), who are both tired of dealing with the comments they are told about Shirley. They even refuse to participate in a televised interview, so Muriel leaves the coffee shop without even drinking her coffee.
A few segments in the movie aren’t as powerful as King’s performance is, but there are scenes of realism and motivation that keep us involved. An example comes in when Gottlieb is nearly arrested by the police because they think he’s threatening Chisholm as they’re just walking and talking. It’s because of how Wallace got shot. And it’s also motivating, because of how she uses her words to talk some sense into people and get her messages out there.
Besides King, we also get some amazing supporting work from Cherrie, Reddick, Howard, Mitchell, Hedges, Reina King, and Amirah Vann as actress/singer Diahann Carroll. It’s how they all get into character and merge with their personalities that makes them likable. And Ridley directs everyone with his own style of truth and life.
I’m sorry I haven’t heard of this woman before, but it is nice to know that such a woman like Shirley Chisholm is persistent to enter the campaign and try to make our country a better place at the time. But it isn’t her campaign, we should be celebrating. It’s how supported black civil rights and women’s rights, and how she became the first African-American congresswoman. This lady had a lot to be proud of, and the movie celebrates her legacy.
On a closing note, in 2020, there was a biography also titled “Shirley,” but it was about the horror novelist Shirley Jackson, portrayed by Elisabeth Moss. So, try not to get these titles confused when you plan to stream the Regina King movie online, which will be on Netflix. But if you do want to look back at the Moss movie, it’s on many other streaming services. Both movies are good. Just on different topics.
Now Playing in Select Theaters
Streaming on Netflix This Friday
