"Rustin"

Terrific editing, a quick pace and upbeat jazz tunes make this different from so many of the biopics which come out at awards time each year.  There is the incomparable performance by Colman Domingo and the rest of the cast, and there is a tight, clean script which keeps the story moving.  Like haiku, the story here says exactly what it needs to, and no more.  The tale of this event is oft-told but never has it been told from this perspective.  The story of Bayard Rustin and the behind-the-scenes battles to get the March on Washington to happen can be difficult to watch at times.  We have been taught, in so many school lessons, about the love and peace and unity of the day.  But we need to know the rest of it.  How the Black community struggled to agree on methods to achieve equality.  How homosexuals and women were often left out of the equation.  How a gentle, passionate man of peace was sidelined time and time again but refused to be silenced.  This production, from Higher Ground, Barack and Michelle Obama's film company, continues to tread the path they have committed to:  letting ALL voices be heard.  It is a film of simple beauty which leaves an impact.