“Rustin” – International Film Festival Review

By Dwight Brown
Film Critic NNPA News Wire

(**1/2)

He was the man behind the man. Martin Luther King’s chief lieutenant. Why is he only getting attention now? Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) was gay at a time in the ‘60s when he was shunned by MLK’s other associates. He regained his stature in the civil rights leader’s camp when he imagined, developed and completed a March on Washington that became the largest civil rights gathering ever. On August 28th, 1963, 250,000 people, who had a heightened sense of social consciousness, descended on D.C. changed the course of history.

The script by Julian Breece (When They See Us) and Dustin Lance Black (Milk) gives and in-depth portrait of the man who endured continuous hazing, yet prevailed. Lovers, adversaries, arrests, achievements. It’s all on screen, manifested in a stunning performance by Domingo. The most stirring drama is featured in scenes played by veteran actors who embody strong-willed civil rights icons in the heat of verbal battles: Glynn Turman (A. Phillip Randolph), CCH Pounder (Dr. Anna Hedgeman), Maxwell Whittington-Cooper (John Lewis), Aml Ameen (MLK). Jeffrey Wright as the vindictive Adam Clayton Powell commands the screen and steers the proceedings to high-pitch levels. Chris Rock as NAACP leader Roy Wilkinson seems woefully miscast.

Director George C. Wolfe (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) gets many things right. The assemblage of historical figures is as magical as the one in One Night in Miami, when Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali and Malcom X gathered. He makes Rustin’s coalition building feat (black activists, college kids, union members) seem miraculous. And Wolfe builds the tension and preparation to an exhilarating peak and gets solid performances from the very talented cast. Yet nothing distinguishes Rustin from other bio/history films, minus the milestone crowd shots at the Washington Monument.

Some will wish the film steered towards authenticity and not being so polished. Tobias A. Schliessler’s cinematography glistens. Toni-Leslie James’ costumes look like they were just bought at SAKS. It’s hard to believe you’ve gone back in time when everything looks so neat and tidy. That’s the rub. Fortunately, the sheer gravitas of this historical accounting outweighs any imperfections.

Domingo, the screenwriters and supporting cast finally give the enigmatic Bayard Rustin his props, in the most respectful way. He’s no longer the man behind the scenes. He’s the man.