Harriet

Oscar season is fully underway as there's nearly a new film every week that is attempting to garner enough praise to warrant awards consideration. Harriet's marketing campaign was less than stellar, and without a lot of buzz, I figured it was going to be a throwaway period piece about an iconic American hero. Luckily, Cynthia Ervo and a great ensemble help put this fill over the mediocre edge and instead boast a crowd-pleaser of a film. One that audiences seem to be on board with, and rightfully so. It's certainly not re-inventing the biopic formula, but it's undeniably engaging.

7.0/10

It's a partial biopic of Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo), mostly set from 1849 to 1863 in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Upstate New York, and briefly in St. Catharines, Canada. The story begins with house slave Araminta Ross's marriage to John Tubman (Zackary Momoh), a free African American. "Minty" is owned by Edward Brodess (Mike Marunde) and his wife, Eliza (Jennifer Nettles). Their oldest son, Gideon (Joe Alwyn), plays a prominent role in pursuing Harriet throughout the film.

When the Brodess family threatens to sell Minty further south, she decides to flee north. Along the way, she receives help from a secret African American abolitionist pastor (Vondie Curtis-Hall), Quaker abolitionist Thomas Garrett (Tim Guinee), and William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.), an African American abolitionist in Philadelphia. After this first success, Araminta, who then takes the name Harriet Tubman, returns multiple times to Maryland to rescue her family and other enslaved people. Pursuers include Gideon Brodess, Bigger Long (Omar Dorsey), an African American slave catcher, and Walter (Henry Hunter Hall), another Black slave catcher.

"Harriet" has a lot going for it. Cynthia Erivo is outstanding and brilliantly reflects the changes in Harriet Tubman's self-understanding as she changes through the years. It does an excellent job with her visions, and the cinematography throughout is striking. The rest of the cast is somewhat stereotyped, probably to let Harriet shine. Joe Alwyn and Omar Dorsey are appropriately villainous. The other abolitionists are mostly backdrop. Nevertheless, "Harriet" makes a profound emotional impact.

The script plays quite a bit with history. The Fugitive Slave Act passed in 1850, very soon after Harriet's first escape; the film makes it appear to take place much later. The Brodess family did not have a son named Gideon. Araminta married John Tubman earlier than depicted in the movie. The film does not note an earlier Araminta Tubman escape attempt. There is no note of the financial abuse she suffered later in life in Upstate New York. Some of these are minor details but underscore that "Harriet" is not a true biopic.

Harriet is a sincere tribute to the real-life freedom fighter. Excellent performances and a developed story add layers of entertainment. Anyone interested in documentaries or the subject material must watch this. The story tells the heroic tale of Harriet Tubman's escape from slavery and transformation into one of America's most influential figures. The film recounts how her courage and intelligence freed hundreds of slaves and changed history as we know it.

Cynthia Erivo, as Harriet Tubman, brings out something award-worthy. This actress of Broadway fame launches her star potential to greater heights as she perfectly captures Tubman's appearance on top of her distinguishing characteristics. The film is truly a vehicle for Cynthia's many talents. Other cast members include Leslie Odom Jr. as William Still and Janelle Monae as Marie. While Odom Jr.'s role is relatively one-note as someone Tubman sends runaways to, Monae adds heart to Marie as she settles Tubman for city life. As the film progresses, a heartbreaking scene sticks its landing due to the dynamic between the two.

Kasi Lemmons aptly directs, as the story is told chronologically. However, the cinematography does leave a little bit more to be desired, as it lacks nuance and something of interest, during extended dialogue-heavy scenes. Due to this, I felt the runtime and was left desiring the thrilling rescues that follow. It is worth mentioning that you must be interested in American history, or else you will truly remain bored during its two-hour runtime. My favorite scene is Tubman's first escape, because a thrilling scene follows where Tubman jumps downstream into the river rather than get captured. It is truly a testament to Tubman's courage and agility.

The message of this film is that Tubman always stands for justice and treats even her opponents fairly; really everything Tubman stands for speaks truth in heroic qualities. I give this film 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 12 to 18 due to violence, thematic content and language, including racial slurs.

Reviewed by Arjun N., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, visit kidsfirst dot org.

Fantastic job on the FIRST feature film about Harriet Tubman. All of the actors did a great job bringing this historical figure to life. This film deserved more accolades than it received.

The film is ultimately fairly frustrating. The central performance by Erivo was really good and powerful. The film is quite handsome-it was nice seeing some photography by Toll with a budget. The technical aspects provoke period and the director gets a lot of suspense out of Tubman's escape and rescue missions. The film takes a pretty narrow range of Tubman's life as its plot but working within that range it seems to be fairly accurate. It certainly was engaging. The film resists centering whiteness-abet not fully-and I was glad to see that the Underground Railroad seemed to be almost exclusively black. The film doesn't contain a white savoir trope so there's at least that.

However, the film's narrowness results in a too simple and too short of a rendering of Tubman's life. Her work on Women's suffrage was a mere footnote. Arguments around what sort of actions the abolitionist movement should take were greatly reduced. John Brown was omitted entirely. Fredrick Douglas was given a cameo. The film jumps years at a time and it results in narrative that is merely a skeleton of Tubman's most well known experiences.

The film is weirdly hesitant around Tubman committing justified violence. At times the film contorts itself to avoid showing Tubman hurting people, especially white people. It seemed to be too saintly of a characterization especially as the film leans heavily on Tubman's faith. (In general the faith stuff lands with emotional resonance). This is a far less visceral portrayal of slavery than 12 Years a Slave.

Overall I think this is pretty good biopic.