A REAL-LIFE SUPERHERO
Movie on civil rights hero Marshall a ‘crowd-pleaser’
Let’s admit the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth: We hear there’s a movie about Thurgood Marshall — the crusading civil rights lawyer who argued the landmark Brown vs. Board of Education case and became the first black justice on the U.S. Supreme Court — and we expect something high-minded, noble, earnest and medicinal.
When it opens Friday, “Marshall” may force a reordering of our expectations.
“People are responding to this movie like it’s ‘Wonder Woman,’ ” said Josh Gad, who plays Sam Friedman, the real-life lawyer dragooned by Thurgood Marshall (Chadwick Boseman) into fighting a case of racial injustice in 1940s Connecticut. Gad may not be an impartial witness, but he put his finger on what distinguishes “Marshall” from your standard Hollywood biopic: If they called it “Thurgood Marshall, Superhero” it wouldn’t be that far off.
“At its core, it’s a crowd-pleaser,” said Gad. “That might be something with some negative connotations, but I think it’s also hopeful, and empowering. And let’s not forget that Reggie comes from the world of writing comic books, including ‘Black Panther.’ ”
“Reggie” is director Reginald Hudlin, who freely admitted the superhero connection.
“Sometimes,” he said, “to appreciate the achievements of these great men we have to take them off the pedestal. In the case of Thurgood Marshall, our mental image of him is as an old man, in robes, sequestered away in the Supreme Court. So to see him as a young man, smoking, drinking, flirting, fighting — you’ll be, ‘Oh I know this guy!’ And when he’s a guy with all this swagger and is the smartest guy in any room he’s in, it’s kind of amazing he’s human. In fact, he’s more than human. So we get back to the superhero place in a very natural, earned way.”
Marshall is played by Boseman, who has had some experience playing trailblazers (Jackie Robinson in “42,” James Brown in “Get On Up”). When the film opens, Marshall is the NAACP’s chief legal counsel, sent to Bridgeport, Conn., where a black chauffeur (Sterling K. Brown) has been
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accused of assaulting and attempting to murder his white employer (Kate Hudson). When the judge (James Cromwell) bars Marshall from participating in the trial, he continues to direct the defense, with local attorney Friedman taking over the courtroom presentation.
At the same time, Hudlin said, the movie ends with more people coming to Thurgood Marshall for help, with more tales of racial injustice, “and audiences are like ‘Right: The struggle continues.’ And we have to keep fighting. The truth is, freedom ain’t free. And every generation has to be tested.”