Something that seems too good to be true usually is war is hell, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, or a variety of other euphemisms can be used to describe Spike Lee’s (Malcolm X, He Got Game) 2020’s Da 5 Bloods. While this is not Lee’s first venture into a historical war drama (2008’s Miracle at St. Anna), it is his first look at the Vietnam War. While a strong contender for a Best Picture Oscar nominee, Da 5 Bloods could also give Lee his second Best Director nomination (2018’s BlacKKKlansman). Its best Oscar nomination chance is Best Actor (Delroy Lindo – The Cider House Rules, The Last Castle).

Beginning with real-life footage from Muhammad Ali and ending with the same from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Lee sandwiches his story between the voices of two pioneers who will forever be linked by, among other things, their boisterous and vigorous opposition to a war that many in our country never believed we should have entered. While Ali sets the tone before our story begins, King’s quoting of Langston Hughes in a speech he gave one year before he died, saying, “America never was America to me,” leaves the viewer with a lasting impression.

Returning to Ho Chi Minh City some 45 years after their final tour in the Vietnam War, old friends Paul (Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters – Harriet, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr – HBO’s The Wire, 25th Hour) reunite after a long, though never defined, time apart. The goal of the foursome is to find the remains of their squad leader, Stormin’ Norman Holloway (Chadwick Boseman – Black Panther, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), and to find a hidden stockpile of gold to bring Norman home for a proper burial.

Paul is our leader here. He’s a patriotic ultraconservative Trump supporter, evidenced by his MAGA red hat. While there certainly are differences between each of our characters, Lindo’s performance separates him from his co-stars. In the performance of a lifetime, Lindo’s Paul has unsuccessfully managed his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his time in the war. At times, he is the most loyal in the group, while at others, seemingly driven only by his self-interest. Lindo paints the narrative of an unreliable lead character. Paul’s son David (Jonathan Majors – The Last Black Man in San Francisco, White Boy Rick) adds more layers to his character when he shows up out of the blue for the trip into the jungle after learning of his father’s plans.

As unfathomable as the story itself might seem, it is kept believable by the determination of its characters. While choppy in parts and rushed in others, we understand why each character returns to this place. Gold certainly is a factor. But so, too, are opportunities for redemption and rebirth. We learn about our characters’ troubled pasts as each tries to better his future.

I’ve seen that many critics have said that Boseman’s performance here was better than in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. That seems rather ridiculous. He was incredible as the smooth-talking, lady-killing trumpeter troubled by past trauma but having the ability to conceal as he sought out his dreams to write and record his music. Released after his August 2020 untimely death from colon cancer, this final role of his career is likely to earn him a posthumously Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It starkly contrasts his performance as Stormin Norman in Da 5 Bloods. In his short career, Boseman has commanded the screen. In this film, he is a side character overshadowed by his story and the other stars. This is Lindo’s vessel from start to finish, despite Lee successfully telling the story of many of his characters.