OSCARS 2024: Rustin (2023)

At this point, Oscar Season and biographical films are irrevocably linked. The Best Actor category is almost inevitably dominated by performers playing real people. A quick glance shows me that we haven't had a year without a biopic nominated in that category since 2008. While many biographical films are actually quite good – indeed, a great one is leading the field this year – most films in this genre are not so notable. It's become a cliché that, if an actor wants to take a short cut to critical respect and award recognition, playing a real person is the way to do it. Especially if the subject contributed to American history, had a distinctive physical appearance, or spoke with a weird voice. In 2024, the film that meets all these qualifications is “Rustin.” To really show that this is the token biopic nod, Colman Domingo's lead performance is also the only nomination the film has received.

“Rustin” is, of course, about Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist and proponent of non-violent protest. The film begins in 1960, as Rustin and Martin Luther King have organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and are preparing a peaceful march on the Democratic National Convention. When it slips that a rumor is about to be leaked, that openly gay Rustin is having an affair with King, he leaves the organization. Two years later, Rustin begins work to help organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Along the way, Rustin carries on a love affair with white activist Tom Kahn, falls for another man, and tries to exist as both a gay man and a black man in a time when both are persecuted.

“Rustin” was directed by George C. Wolfe, the famous playwright turned filmmaker who previously brought “Ma Rainey's Black Bottom” to the screen. A fair criticism of that film is it never quite escaped its stage bound roots. Perhaps Wolfe took this heart for “Rustin.” The film employs a number of visual tricks. Such as black-and-white flashbacks, first person perspective shots during Bayard's run-ins with the cops, high-speed montages, and a few weird zooms. Despite all these steps, it's unavoidable that “Rustin” is still largely composed of people sitting around and talking things out. Many scenes are devoted to Rustin, King, and other prominent black rights leaders arguing and debating various plans and issues. Most baffling of all is “Rustin's” conclusion. After the entire movie building up to the March on Washington... The actual march takes place entirely off-screen! We merely see a split-second of King's speech and the aftermath. What an utterly strange decision.

A lot of 'Rustin” is like that. The film attempts to be a snapshot of Bayard's whole life within this handful of years. This means it splits its focus between his work as an activist, as he attempts to push through his own plans against resistance from other established leader, and his status as a gay man during the early sixties. The various love affairs Rustin has are all quickly rushed through. The subplot involving a composite character played by Johnny Ramney ends especially abruptly. The film does what it can to blend these two aspects of Rustin's life, especially when his previous arrest for “perversion” is announced to the public. Yet it never comes together into a logical whole. We don't get a sense of Bayard Rustin as a whole human being, a civil rights activist and peaceful protestors who also happened to be homosexual. The elements uncomfortably linger next to each other, as if the script is changing focus back and forth.

Ultimately, movies like this depend a lot on their performances. Colman Domingo is a hugely charismatic actor and that is well on display here. However, this is also a very showy performance. Domingo mimics Rustin's distinctive speech pattern, while wearing a lot of make-up and period clothes. It's theatrical, in the kind of way that can't help but be a bit distracting. We aren't seeing a character come to life. We are seeing an actor play that character. There are a few performances like that. Such as Chris Rock as Roy Wilkins, who is obviously never anyone but Chris Rock. This stands against more naturalistic performances, like a very subdued Aml Ameen as King or an immediately magnetic Jeffrey Wright as Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (Who more-or-less fills the role of catty antagonist throughout the film.)

There are biographical movies that rise above the genre and become classics in their own right. There are also biopics that, outside of its star turn, is destined to be forgotten. I'm sure Colman Domingo, as a black gay man in reality, was very proud to bring this key figure in African-American and LGBT+ history to life. You can tell it was a big deal for him. Yet “Rustin,” as a movie, feels a lot like a Wikipedia encapsulation of someone's life with a few baffling omissions and changes. I hope Domingo gets another chance to show off his abilities in a better movie in the future. [5/10]