The United States vs. Billie Holiday

 Almost 50 years ago, Diana Ross made her Golden Globe-winning debut as Billie Holiday in Lady Sings the Blues. This year, Andra Day makes her Golden Globe-winning debut as Lady Day in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. And yes, Andra's stage name is an homage to Billie's. Let's see how it is.

Suzan-Lori Parks' screenplay is adapted from a portion of Johann Hari's book Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs. A good bit of the film is framed by Billie's interview with a shrill radio personality named Reginald Lord Devine (Leslie Jordan). Devine is the condescending sort who asks her if life would be easier if she'd just behave. Yeesh.

In 1947, Lady Day sings the Blues in New York City. The Man, represented by FBN chief Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund), are threatened by her success. They're especially angry over her anti-lynching anthem Strange Fruit. They know that she is also addicted to heroin, so they arrest her for possession after she performs Strange Fruit one night.

What else does the film have during its 130 minutes? We see Billie work to get her career going after prison. We see her in a few abusive relationships, particularly with manager John Levy (Tone Bell) and her husband, Louis McKay (Rob Morgan). We see Anslinger try again and again to arrest Billie on exaggerated charges. We see narcotics agent Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes) romance her and ponder his allegiances. We hear about her rough past and see why she still sings that song.

That it covers over a decade, rather than just one year, helps make it less tediously depressing than Judy. But it's still a difficult film. The betrayals and heart-aches pile up during the story. Anslinger's campaign is so relentless that he arrests her on her deathbed. Hedlund makes Anslinger perfectly despicable. It's still awesomely funny when Fletcher intentionally botches one of the frame-ups on the witness stand. 

There's a few fine supporting characters in Billie's inner circle, including Da'Vine Joy Randolph as Roslyn and Miss Lawrence as Miss Freddy. Natasha Lyone, however, is underutilized as Tallulah Bankhead.

Andra Day's performance is a good screen debut. As Lady Day, she asserts herself as a human being when The Man denies her. She takes justifiable tact with Devine's condensation and works to get her career back on track. We see her sing Strange Fruit in full after she comes across a lynching. Her singing is perfect even if the film isn't.

The editing by Jay Rabinowitz isn't perfect either. Perhaps the biggest offender is when Fletcher uses drugs with Billie. It suddenly transitions into Fletcher walking through a flashback of Billie's childhood. It was a jarring experience. Less jarring is costume designer Paolo Nieddu's recreations of Billie's splendorous wardrobe. The production design and music were also great technical aspects.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday got me thinking about a film focused on Strange Fruit. Billie was singing it for about a decade before this story began. She says to Anslinger that his grandkids will sing it; I don't remember hearing it till last night when I watched the film on Hulu. It's a song with a great history and purpose. 

What about this film? It's a good showcase of Lady Day's music and life. But be prepared for 130 minutes of a rough life. At least it's not an endurance test as something like Judy is.