Shirley

Shirley Chisholm has been up there among my heroes. She was a small, thin woman with a distinctive voice and speech pattern. And when she spoke, one couldn't help but listen. Powerful, powerful leader.

I feel this film did not do her justice. Don't get me wrong, it was okay. But okay does not cut it for someone as important as Shirley Chisholm should be considered.

One thing for sure, she had no Island accent. I did not feel Regina King channeled her well. Not were the other actors very strong. Everything was surface. No introspection, no deep thinking exposed.

Perhaps it would have been more interesting to see how she got to Congress and her achievements there.

This Shirley is possibly even more bold than Shirley, the waitress cooking up burgers for Rerun, from "What's Happening!" This is a great piece of American culture as it is about the first black congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm, who became the first Black woman to run for President of the United States. She was portrayed as a smart and savvy person who wouldn't let people tell her no or that she couldn't or shouldn't do something she believed in. The story follows her as she ramps up her presidential run, the people in her inner circle, her husband's role and of course the obstacles she had to overcome. Overall, the storytelling lacked finesse and subtly as it was a bit heavy-handed at times and felt like a choppy bullet list of moments. The acting and costumes felt spot on. Cool political and inspirational story.

As "Shirley" (2024 release; 118 min) opens, we are reminded that Brooklyn's Shirley Chisholm was the first Black woman elected to the US Congress, in 1966, among a sea of white males newcomers. We then go to "December, 1971" as Chisholm decides to run for the US presidency in a crowded field and with little chance of actually winning.... At this point we are 10 minutes into the movie.

Couple of comments: this is the latest from writer-director John Ridley (best known for his script for "12 Years A Slave"). Here he looks back at what basically amounts to a footnote in US political history. Question: who was the first Black woman elected to US Congress? Answer: Shirley Chisholm. Question: who was the first Black woman to run for president? Answer: Chisholm again. This film focuses solely on her 1972 presidential run, and hence this is NOT a biopic of Shirley Chisholm. We are given no background or context, none whatsoever, on how this woman got elected to Congress in the first place, or what she did in Congress. As to the movie itself, it struggles to get off the ground, although there are some good moments, in particular towards the end. The movie benefits enormously from the strong lead performance by Regina King ("If Beale Street Could Talk"). Lucas Hedges plays Robert, a national student representative. Bottom line is this: we all know the outcome of Chisholm's 1972 presidential run before we even watch this, so the assumption is that we watch this for the journey, rather than the end result. Turns out that journey isn't all that interesting, even if the concept itself (a Black woman running for president? In 1972? She is DEACDES ahead of her time) is momentous. I'd rather have watched and learned how Chisholm raised to prominence to begin with by getting elected to Congress in the first place. As a complete aside, I must point out that significant chunks of the movie were filmed in Cincinnati (where I live), standing in once again for New York of the 1960-70s (see also Todd Haynes' "Carole"). Also this: couldn't the film makers come up with a sharper movie title than the lame and generic "Shirley"?

"Shirley" received a one week limited theatrical run in Mid-March and then starting streaming on Netflix last week. "Shirley" is currently rated a respectable 70% Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. That feels a little high to me. "Shirley" is well-meant, for sure, but I'd rather have watched a biopic of this barrier breaking woman. If you have any interest in politics, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Shirley Chisholm shattered glass ceilings in Congress, but the film 'Shirley' doesn't quite move the needle in the biopic genre. It's an earnest, straight-forward film, buoyed by a stand-out performance by Academy Award-winner Regina King.

'Shirley' focuses almost entirely on Chisholm's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1972. There's a lot of organizing and political strategizing. But we don't get to know Shirley the person and the movie has zero backstory.

As important as Shirley Chisholm was in American politics, the film lacks a sense of drama; this can be attributed to limiting the narrative to Chisholm's campaign, which viewers know will fall way short of the finish line.

Chisholm had a long career in Congress, winning eight terms. We don't see any of that. Nor do we see much of Chisholm's personal life and none of her pre-Congressional career as a school teacher in Brooklyn. Her life might have made for an interesting mini-series on Netflix, which produced the film.

Surely, 'Shirley' does have its attributes. The period costumes, sets and soundtrack all transported me to back in the day. For me, the best scene in the film was a tense powwow between Chisholm and the California leader of the Black Panthers, hosted by actress Diahann Carroll. Who knew?

'Shirley' is an OK film, but I wanted to know more about Shirley the person.

Far be it from me to cast aspersions on someone who looks at a life like Shirley Chisholm's and has to choose just enough for a two-hour biopic. But this Netflix film, produced by Regina King and written and directed by John Ridley (whose Oscar-winning "12 Years a Slave" was phenomenal), is a bit lackluster. I don't think it uses the best cross-section of an amazing life, with just the Wikipedia entry alone presenting so much possible material for a biopic.

Regina King is excellent in the title role and the movie is well-intentioned but ultimately lacking in what made her so memorable, focusing solely on her 1972 presidential run with nothing about her work on the ERA or even how she first made it to Congress. The script feels like it takes her quotations and builds a movie around them; you can almost see the pullquote on the screen. Her famous tagline "unbought and unbossed" went unmentioned and unexplored in the entire movie, aside from one sign in the background of a scene. I'd still recommend watching this serviceable film, but keep your expectations in check.