What a waste of Hollywood dollars. They needed to get a director that was interested in the depth. So many things were skimmed over or sweetened to avoid being offensive except for the lesbianism. Since the director is a lesbian she certainly drove that down your throat which is fine. Bessie was bisexual but that's not all she was. The director was childlike in her approach. She obviously had not studied Bessie enough. I guess Latifah may have been the best choice but Latifah played Latifah like she does in every movie she's in. That's not bad either but not appropriate for this movie. I deeply studied Bessie and this movie is no where near accurate and people tend to believe what they see in movies. Especially if it is biographical in nature. What a shame that this era of history was so ignorantly presented. Costumes were fair. Scenery was pretty good. But Bessie was a lot more raw and cunning that the director presented. The party where Bessie gets stabbed. In the movie it was all flashbacks and laying in the street. No! In real life Bessie took off after the guy that stabbed her with the knife still sticking out of her until she couldn't run anymore. It was this type of energy that the film did not catch. Ruby Walker was barely touched on and made to look like some goofy little teenager. The Van Vechten party was all wrong. It was Okeh records that she auditioned for and spat - not Black Swan. Things that could have been really funny were lack luster. Monique looked great as Ma Rainey and did a good job but there were definite things about Ma that weren't touched on. Monique was much more believable than Latifah. Latifah doesn't have the vocal qualities that Bessie had but even a long shot. The vocals she did for the movie sounded like the Dana Owens album. They should have used original music and had her lip synch. It was a very poor presentation all the way around. It was all just sensationalism. Bessie life was sensational enough if they would have taken the time to actually study it and present it properly. She didn't have a mansion. She had an apartment in Philadelphia and bought properties for her relatives to stay. The whole story of Snooks was wrong and didn't even use the name Snooks. The rendition of Gimme A Pig Foot at the end was colossal! Hopefully this movie will just die away and be forgotten and they can do another one that's better. The whole aspect of Gertrude and Bessie was omitted. That's what split Bessie and Jack up. Gertrude was NOT part of Bessie's show! There were only one of two of Bessie's songs in the whole movie. It missed out on some of the greatest blues numbers of the period. The references to Ma's songs were spot on as far as Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Prove It On Me Blues. Monique's voice didn't fit Ma's either but it was closer than Latifah's. Ma sounded like a man but her voice was not raspy or gravely - just low. But Monique looked a lot like her and definitely portrayed her very well. This was a very very weak movie and flew through stuff to where you really don't get the picture at all. So many famous names were just stuck in there really fast. Bessie was all show business. She loved having a good time. She loved her people. She didn't suffer fools gladly. She spoke her mind. She fought like a man. She loved hard. She drank hard. She was not a homebody. It's such a shame that so many wonderful stories were completely omitted and then the ones that were included were so watered down and told incorrectly.
Review of Bessie
