Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

A detonation of pure acting firepower is what's on offer in this movie version of August Wilson's 1982 stage play.

A stagey chamber piece with occasional flashes of musical intensity and thematic depth to spare.

For whatever else it may be, the movie is a reverent tribute to both the medium of theater and Wilson's indelible impact on it.

[W]atching actors of this caliber lose themselves in characters of such aching humanity is ample reward, with Boseman's towering work standing as a testament to a blazing talent lost too soon.

Boseman and Davis deliver superb performances in this timeless meditation on Black art, and those who would exploit it.

It's Boseman, though, in his final appearance on screen, who makes both the bitter and the sweet of the story sing: a pointed arrow of hurt and hope and untapped fury, heartbreakingly alive in every scene.

Wolfe finds the right balance between letting Wilson's trademark monologues flow and shooting them in a cinematic way.

While the film boasts a strong ensemble, all of whom give fantastic performances, especially Davis, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is Boseman's movie from beginning to end. He shows his full range.

It's the brilliant Boseman who stays with you in the end.

Chadwick Boseman's presence shouldn't endure just because it's his final on-screen role, but because of how darn good he is.

Chadwick Boseman meticulously charts the breakdown of a man discovering, within the mirages of 1920s blackness, that pursuit and escape, fleeing from and running toward, are inextricably intertwined.

This is chamber-piece cinema that hits with steam train force.