There are two victims of Lee Daniels' directorial clumsiness: Billie Holiday, who deserved a better film portrait; and Andra Day, who deserved a more appropriate movie to shine. This is a reductionist film: it reduces Billie Holiday to a drug addict who is a good singer; and reduce the historic racial conflict to one song. There's such a messy editing and such erratic directing that it seems surprising.

The true life story is a sad and emotive one but the film fails to deliver on that. There are moments of power, sometimes because of the great lead performance, but its overlong and a little messy. Disappointing then, but if you don't know the story, it is still worth catching. Wait for the coda at the end of the film too. It shows the US government still have a long way to go when it comes to racial justice...shocking!

It didn’t come across as a feature film to me... more like a made for TV movie. With that said, I only knew the bare minimum about her life before this movie so I enjoyed the glimpse I got. Her life was tragically sad but she was a strong force of nature in her own right. :pound_symbol:strangefruit

The movie was not appropriately edited, as it seems to bounce around Billie Holidays too often, and motives as to why Billie did what she did were not explored. Stoy threads are left dangling as to what happens to some of the people. However, there are some excellent elements they got right the songs and acting they nailed. Other than those two elements, you should skip this one and hope someone will revisit Billie Holidays with a better movie someday.

>I swear I won’t call no copper >If I’m beat up by my poppa >Ain’t nobody’s business if I do This complex and very problematic lyric is the essence of Billie Holiday and what was missing from _The United States vs. Billie Holiday_. Which is not Andra Day’s fault. Her portrayal of Lady Day is amazing and almost makes it possible to overlook some of the film’s shortcomings. First off, the liberties taken with the real Billie Holiday’s life annoyed me. Yes, absolutely the song “Strange Fruit” is a powerful balad in the civil rights movement and it unquestionably deserves its title as The Best Song of the Century (Time Magazine, 199). However, framing the film as a battle a racist FBI head waged against her because of the song downplays the systemic racism in political and law enforcement bodies that began with the selfsame FBI agent and continues to this day. Secondly, the romance with the FBI agent that serves as a centerpiece for the film probably never happened in real life. Considering the emphasis the film places on this couple, the fact that it is total fabrication casts a shadow over the veracity of the rest of the movie. _The United States vs. Billie Holiday_ is like a dull dawn: there’s not enough darkness to make the stars shine. Don’t get me wrong, the film definitely doesn’t shy away from Lady Day’s dark passages, but the traditional Hollywood portrayal doesn’t allow the director to peel away enough levels to get to the heart of the matter. The bright lighting, the brilliant colors, and the extravagant soundtrack dulled the needle that was going to give us the hard shit. Not unlike the song Ain’t Nobody’s Business quoted at the top of ths review, the sleek style overshadows the pain lurking beneath.