Review: Harriet

Harriet
Cert: 12A / 126 mins / Dir. Kasi Lemmons / Trailer



To the awkward past now with Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet, a biopic of Harriet Tubman who escaped slavery in Maryland in 1849 and went on to rescue around 70 others before serving in the American Civil War.

Cynthia Erivo leads in the title role, and indeed goes on to carry the whole film. The problem being that the rest of the cast aren't quite as good, so Erivo ends up doing all the heavy-lifting. And while she's capable enough to pull that off, the resulting film is uneven. The pacing is also all over the shop, and I must confess to clock-watching when the end didn’t appear to be in sight.

Harriet’s first group-rescue is a lengthy and tense affair, but the fact that it takes place after an hour, in the dark and is by necessity conducted as quietly as possible lends the sequence a soporific quality, which I’m pretty certain is not intentional. Lemmons seems to be stronger in the quiet, more reflective moments than the scenes of high drama. Overall it’s competently made, but the Q4 release date whispers ‘awards-bait’ a little too loudly.

Despite the heavy subject-matter, I found Harriet more educational than emotionally engaging. And that’s fine, but if I want enlightenment, I’ll watch a documentary. The film is about more than dates and markers of course, and even more than about freedom, it’s about hope. And while I can be snarky about the month in which Harriet lands, I can’t deny the overall need for this.

Oh, and am I the only one who kept getting distracted every time Terence Blanchard's score kept segueing into the opening fanfare of Goldfinger?

Okay, it's not as good as 12 Years A Slave (what is?), but Harriet is a step above Free State Of Jones, even though all three would sit on the same shelf anyway..



Only for the cinematography, tonally this is more a Sunday-night-in.



It is, as above.



Probably not, if only because Cynthia Erivo is fantastic in everything.



That's possible.



There isn't.
Fair.



Level 2: Clarke Peters is in this, and he was in Three Billboards along with Woody 'Beckett' Harrelson.







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