Netflix’s ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’: Does it capture the brilliance of the stage production?

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James: Davis does the best job of capturing both the humor and drama of Wilson’s characters in her performance. She’s fierce, funny but always has a hint of sadness in her performance. Ma knows her white record producers are scamming her, but she also knows her options are limited, so she squeezes out every concession she can get when she’s momentarily in a position of power. I love the moment in the movie when she halts the recording session because she didn’t get a cold Coke as requested in her contract. She’s terrific.

Donald: I love the moment when Ma, with her nephew driving, gets into a minor fender-bender on the way to the recording session, and she tangles verbally with a white police officer. She doesn’t back down one iota in the confrontation with the officer and really lays into him, and a look crosses his face that suggests she might have pushed him too far and that she may end up in the paddywagon. But he relents and just sort of deflates in her presence. There are so many references in “Ma Rainey” to the imbalance of power between Blacks and whites, and yet the title character, like you say, is inspiring because she knows how to use her power. Speaking of the car accident scene, it’s one of the few times that director George C. Wolfe and screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson open up the action beyond what Wilson wrote for the stage. In fact, there are long stretches of the film that feel like you could be watching them in a theater. What do you think, Jim, of the adaptation, especially considering how connected you feel to the original play?

James: Hey, when you’re working with such rich source material as Wison’s original script you get out of the way and let the words do the work for you. What would you want Wolfe to do? Mount a Busby Berkeley-like musical sequence to make the movie more cinematic? I think not. I reject the whole idea of too “talky” films. Quentin Tarantino has made a career out of loquacious movies, so I didn’t mind Wolfe stuck close to the source material. Wolfe makes all kinds of cinematic choices: Camera angles, close ups and the use of music. I think, except for one aspect of the project, the film is superb.

Viola Davis plays Ma Rainey.

Donald: I’m with you on the superb part and curious where you think it falters.

James: The aspect of the film I don’t think entirely captures the spirit of Wilson’s source material: The humor and warmth of the characters. In the play, there was a real sense of camaraderie between members of Ma’s band that the movie didn’t have. Wolfe and Hudson seem to concentrate on the conflict more than the well-worn friendships I felt in the play. Still, that’s only a minor criticism. Again, I was really taken by this superb production.

Donald: I was, too. Thanks, Jim, for your insights. The best thing about “Ma Rainey,” I think, is that it will turn more people on to the works of August Wilson. I can’t wait for a Fresno-area theater company to once again be able to perform one of his plays live.

James Ward is longtime movie critic for the Visalia Times-Delta.

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