At the movies: Early life of Thurgood Marshall opens in theaters
The young life of Thurgood Marshall is examined with an all-star cast in a biographical legal drama opening this weekend in theaters.
Brought to the screen by Reginald Hudlin, known for his work with “Boomerang” and “House Party,” “Marshall” follows a high profile case in 1941 against Joseph Spell — one that would benchmark Marshall’s career.
The film follows Spell (Stirling K. Brown, “This Is Us” and “American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson”), an African American driver in the midst of a rape trial against elitist Eleanor Strubing (Kate Hudson, “Almost Famous” and “How to lose a Guy in 10 Days”). Marshall (Chadwich Boseman, “Captain American: Civil War” and “Message from the King”), is asked to represent Spell with his co-counsel Sam Friedman (Josh Gad, “Frozen” and “Beauty & The Beast”). The duo go on to defend Spell’s case and though it was only one case in Marshall’s many over the years, it’s a case that shows what he fought for.
Prosecutor Loren Willis (Dan Stevens, “Beauty and the Beast” and “Downtown Abbey”), Judge Foster (James Cromwell, “The Green Mile” and “L.A. Confidential”) and Thurgood’s wife, Buster Marshall (Keesha Sharp, “American Crime Story: The People vs. OJ Simpson” and “Girlfriends”), are also pivotal characters in Marshall’s journey.
According to the media review website, RottenTomatoes.com, 93 percent of users want to see “Marshall.” Users on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) have already given it 7 out of 10 stars.
Early reviews for the film are positive, with Todd McCarthy writing for the Hollywood Reporter that “Marshall” is a “solid, straightfoward courtroom drama with proud liberal credentials, one that could have been made by Norman Jewison around 1967.”
He also noted that the film is the first non-comedy, and first feature film in 15 years, for the director. The screenwriters — a civil rights lawyer with no previous film credits and his son — were also applauded.
The film is rated PG-13 for mature thematic content, sexuality, violence and some strong language.
Other movies that are arriving in theaters this weekend include:
n “The Foreigner” featuring the Katie Leung, Jackie Chan, Rufus Jones and Mark Tandy, directed by Martin Campbell, is a cat-and-mouse scenario with a terrorist and a mourning father.
The film is rated R.
n “Breathe” featuring Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Hugh Bonneville and Diana Rigg, directed by Andy Serkis, is a love story about a couple in the devastating face of disease.
The film is listed as PG-13.
n “Goodbye Christopher Robin” directed by Simon Curtis, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Margot Robbie, Kelly Mcdonald and Vicki Pepperdine, follows the life of author A.A. Milne and his stories of Winnie the Pooh.
The film is rated PG.