2021, Academy Award Nominees, Based on a True Story, Daniel Kaluuya, Dominique Fishback, Drama, Jesse Plemons, Judas and the Black Messiah, LaKeith Stanfield, Shaka King

Judas and The Black Messiah (2021)

Of the three best picture Oscar-nominated movies (Mank, The Trial of the Chicago Seven) that have a chance to knock off Nomadland, the odds on favorite to be selected as the year’s best movie, Shaka King’s Judas and the Black Messiah was undoubtedly my favorite. It’s ironic since the other two films have a better chance of earning the night’s biggest prize. But much like the other five nominated pictures, there isn’t anything particularly remarkable about this trio. As a whole, it wasn’t a great year for movies. There were some great acting performances during the year. Judas and the Black Messiah was no exception, earning not one but two nods for Best Supporting Actor.

Set in Chicago in the late 1960s, Judas and the Black Messiah focuses on the clash between murdered  Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya – Black Panther, Get Out) and the local and federal law enforcement agencies that were trying to stop him from his meteoric rise through the ranks. Under the direction of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen – Apocalypse Now, Wall Street), callous and purposeful FBI agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons – Hostiles, Vice) coerces petty thief Bill O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield – Sorry to Bother You, Uncut Gems) to become an informant for the organization. Threatened with jail time for grand auto theft and impersonating an officer (near the film’s start), the FBI offers him the choice of a lengthy sentence or an opportunity to work as an informant, which will then result in his freedom.

Hampton’s exceptional ability to bring rivals and potential enemies together felt threatened, threatening to federal and local law agencies who were content with the current racial status division of 1968. As Hampton continued to gain fame, the FBI and other law jurisdictions coordinated efforts to bring him down by any means necessary. Thus, there is a need to bring in a black informant to get close to Hampton and betray him after earning his trust to divulge his secrets, locations, plans, and more.

Stanfield gives a terrific performance in a role that kept him too far removed from the situation. Hampton’s formidable and persuasive speeches carry a prophetic punch with Kaluuya’s all-in approach. While each actor earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, Kaluuya overshadows his fellow nominee. It’s almost as if Kaluuya was too good. The story revolves more around O’Neal, but the film wants to focus on Hampton so much more. King hesitates to give us what we wish to, resulting in us spending more time with the O’Neal and the FBI than with Hampton and rally supporter-turned-love interest Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback – The Hate U Give, Project Power).

In addition to the two supporting actor nominations, Judas and the Black Messiah received four additional Oscar nominations. Kaluuya is the favorite to win, as he should be. It will be one of the night’s biggest upsets if this fails. However, much like Viola Davis, who won a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award in 2016’s Fences, Kaluuya is likely to win an award in a category that he, perhaps, shouldn’t have received a nomination. Davis and Kaluuya could and should have received a nomination in the lead category. In the case of Davis, she likely would have won the award. For Kaluuya, he probably would have not. While his performance was outstanding, it fell slightly short of Chadwick Boseman’s in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Anthony Hopkins’s in The Father. In this regard, I’m glad he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor to ensure his win, but I still think he was a leading man in this film.

I liked Judas and the Black Messiah. Like the other films nominated for Best Picture, it benefited from a remarkably below-average 2020. It won’t win Best Picture. That award will likely go to Nomadland. However, there doesn’t feel like a massive distinction between the movie that will win Oscar’s biggest prize and whichever of the eight receives the fewest votes. 2019 was also a lesser year for the Best Picture nominees.

However, 2019 was top-heavy with 1917, Parasite, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Ford v Ferrari. Then there were movies that I did not enjoy, including Little Women, Marriage Story, The Irishman, and JoJo Rabbit. 2019 marked the first time since launching my movie site blog in 2011 that I still needed to review all the best picture nominees. I couldn’t find the energy to start my Little Women or JoJo Rabbit reviews. I didn’t have this particular problem with the 2020 nominated movies. The eight nominees were mainly average to slightly above-average movies. The one exception was Promising Young Woman, a film I thoroughly enjoyed.

I’ve written in previous posts that while 2020 brought many original and timely movies, there could have been a better movie of the bunch that we’ll remember a decade from now, regardless of which movie wins the most significant award. 2020 will have 1917  and  Parasite as the movies remembered from that year. I don’t know if movies like Nomadland, The Trial of the Chicago Seven, Mank, or Judas and the Black Messiah will be able to carry that same type of staying power as the years pass by.

Plot 9/10
Character Development 8/10
Character Chemistry 8.5/10
Acting 9.5/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 9/10
Sound 8.5/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 10/10
87%

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