Marshall is one of the most pleasant surprises in movie theaters this year. Chadwick Boseman plays a young Thurgood Marshall in the film that takes a close look at the man's rise to influence through one of his early cases. Called into town like a circuit preacher, NAACP attorney Marshall comes to Connecticut to defend a black man (Sterling K. Brown) accused of raping a wealthy white woman (Kate Hudson) and attempting to kill her. The white majority has already assumed the defendant's guilt, and the old white judge (James Cromwell) orders Marshall's silence. Despite the bleak circumstances, Marshall manipulates an insurance lawyer (Josh Gad) as his co-counselor to run the defense, with Marshall guiding him through notes, nonverbal cues, and extensive preparation out of court.
The film, which takes place in 1941 and concerns a case involving racism, sexism, and classism (along with healthy doses of adultery and corrupt justice), is surprisingly entertaining. It's an old-fashioned courtroom drama with a dash or two of thrilling moments at home or on the street. In fact, it's the kind of movie we're used to seeing older white men lead, and the fact that Boseman takes command of the screen is never once preached about or unnecessarily highlighted. He rocks the role with style and sarcasm, wit and strength, and not a little sexy suavity. I'd compare the film to A Time to Kill or even To Kill a Mockingbird in its scope and gravity, but his performance joins the ranks of Paul Newman and Henry Fonda.
Sure, Marshall is a serious picture, but the film also includes earned comedy and smart social commentary that keep the proceedings light, helped mostly by Gad's character's uncomfortable situation. Marshall, accomplished and stylish in his fabulous suits and cocktail hours with Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes, immediately claims dominance over Gad's Sam Friedman. He manipulates and toys with Friedman until he really needs him, and then their oddball-buddy relationship takes glorious wing. It quickly becomes clear the two have more than met their match with the unjust judge: More than once during the screening, I heard outraged exclamations from viewers as the judge allowed ludicrous objections and struck vital information from the record.
Even out of the courtroom, though, the film examines some fascinating power dynamics of race, religion, education, and sex. We often view Friedman as a joke, but he is clearly respected in his family -- his brother and co-worker (John Magaro) works diligently to aid him -- and synagogue. One scene sets up a possible conflict with a member of his congregation before the parishioner gives him money to support the case; the setting of a restroom doesn't help our (or Friedman's) discomfort. Likewise, Marshall is a very different man when he's with his wife, or when he's confronted with violence in a bar or on a train platform.
I'm not sure how much of the film is truly factual or not, but I doubt that's the point. Its period work and heavy plotting serve to engross us in the drama of 1940s discrimination and injustice, to entertain us and make us think. It has nary a dull moment, breezily moving along some sticky situations and keeping us focused on the timely things 2017 America still needs to hear. As a mystery, Marshall is fairly flat, but as a pitch-perfect old-school courtroom drama and a fabulous depiction of a real-life hero, it's a damn good picture.
IMDb: Marshall
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