Filmology Rating: 3 out of 4 

With all of the chaos going on in the world today it seems that our justice system is thrown into a tailspin, trying it’s hardest to stay afloat but hitting turbulence often causing it to seem like it could fall at any moment; but it’s in a strange way reassuring to know that our justice system has always had its follies.  A system that is supposed to be based on the principle of innocent until proven guilty seems to have left our society, but as shown in Marshall that principle has been forgotten for nearly a century.  

Thurgood Marshall, played by Chadwick Boseman, has been defending African Americans for the NAACP, only to find his job to be getting more difficult as the racial divide grows stronger all over the nation.

All of the actors in this film are chameleons, they are actors that you have seen before, but you will forget about their previous performances while watching Marshall.  The shining jewel among the cast is Chadwick Boseman who delivers yet another career defying performance as Thurgood Marshall.  Boseman, an actor who I have been praising since his first starring role in 42, always brings a sense of gravitas to his performances,  making you believe that he is the most important character in the world.  You cannot help but empathize with Boseman as he has a very distinctive charm that he brings to every character he plays and I will argue, as I did in 2013 when 42 was released, that Boseman will soon be nominated for a Best Actor Award at the Academy Awards and he will charm every soul into euphoria.  The other actor who I found to be amazing was Josh Gad, who is best known as the voice of Olaf in Frozen. While Gad has appeared in other dramatic movies, like Thanks for Sharing, I never found his performance to be believable in the film, it always felt like he was always the weakest element of the film.  The directors seem to have never trusted Gad as a dramatic actor, always wanting him to use his strong comedic skills, but he has a strong dramatic presence too.  Sam Friedman is a Jewish man who is tormented because of his faith and upbringing, who wants a normal life quiet life until he realizes that  the same things that torment him also torment Marshall.  

Marshall featured one aspect that was like nails against a chalkboard to me; and another aspect was admirable most of the time but at others it felt like it was trying to show off: the score and the cinematography.  The score for the film was composed by Marcus Miller, who wrote the score for Think Like a Man and Head of State.  Needless to say Miller hasn’t been given the opportunity to work for a film that requires an operatic score but based on the score that he turned in for Marshall I doubt that he will ever be given the opportunity to work for a film that require such.  The jazz score that at times feels like it was crafted for a noir film is completely out of place for this film and it broke the trance that the actors were putting on me.  The element that surprised me the most was the cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel, who shot Drive and X-Men: Days of Future Past.  Many times turing Marshall scenes occur on the steps of the courthouse and each time they occur the camera starts as a long shot on a tilt,  then zooms in to find Thurgood Marshall.  I’m going to give Sigel the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is trying to say our justice system is tilted toward one side, a biased that only Marshall can fix.  That statement is completely supported by the film and it’s a statement that many won’t argue with however when you do that shot at least four times, it becomes repetitive and the message becomes a stylistic flourish instead of the heavy handed message.  The aspect that I have to give Sigel immense credit for is making Dan Stevens look like a terrifying monster when in reality he is a charming Englishman.  Sigel makes Stevens looks like the villainous character he is in the film, shooting him at a lower angle and letting his eyes be filled in by shadow, creating the sense that he is the monster of the film waiting for yet another chance to pounce.  

It does feel odd to have a film about Thurgood Marshall feel so small and inconsequential when looking at the historic career that he had.  However, that might be the point of the film; “big things have small beginnings” was the exact thought I had while leaving the theatre.  Did anyone in the courtroom know that the man sitting in the courtroom defending a man who everyone thought guilty would go on to argue one of the most important cases in front of the Supreme Court?  Did anyone know that this man would help change the fabric of our country for eternity?  While looking at the story told in Marshall it might feel slight but it still gives you an insight to one of the greatest lawyers that our country has had and one of the faces of diversity and justice that we all should want.  

Rating: See It   

-Jonny G