Sometimes you just have to make people feel the music. Andra Day does that and more in The United States vs. Billie Holiday. The performance scenes are knock your socks off good. And luckily there are plenty of them.
But it’s so hard to channel an entire life into a two-hour biography. What to leave on the cutting room floor, what to focus on, what to gloss over. In the hands of Lee Daniels, Billie Holiday’s life is overcooked and as fleeting as smoke from a cigarette in the wind at the same time, hideously raw and beautiful, in your face while being barely there. Daniels attempts to weave a dramatic thread through the controversy surrounding her public performances of “Strange Fruit” – a hauntingly poetic ballad about the brutalities of lynching – shown here as both an act of defiance against the powers that be and a heartbreaking channeling of past traumas. But, man, that thread gets twisted.
Billie Holliday had a horrific childhood and tumultuous life battling racism, drug addiction and a revolving door of vile men (both black and white) who used her or tried to take her down. Somehow, gifted with an obviously raw talent, she rose up through it all and left us with an unforgettable body of work. Daniels shows us that talent in action and her close circle of confidantes who tried to protect her, but we never get a sense of how she did it. He wallows in the traumas and the destructive self-medications, which certainly warrant seeing the light of day no matter how uncomfortable they make us, but he never shows us the crack of light outside of that spotlight. How did she get there…how did she find the spotlight in the first place? Are we to assume the spotlight simply found her?
Under a suffocating pall of trauma, The United States vs. Billie Holiday has moments of electrifying brilliance, but so much of it was a mess…just like her life, maybe? Depressing. Sobering. Tragic. Andra Day is astounding, and the nightmarishly shrieking buildup to the “Strange Fruit” performance at the film’s centerpiece is painfully haunting. In the end, we all walk away bruised.
The Schleicher Spin 
From your appreciation of Andra Day’s performance, I’m sure you’re excited about her Golden Globe Best Actress win last night. Admittedly, I was a bit surprised with her win, considering Vanessa Kirby, Frances McDormand, and Carey Mulligan as her fellow nominees.
I certainly think Andra Day was deserving, but I was surprised by her win! I actually think the Globes nailed the four dramatic film categories this year with Nomadland and Zhao winning, as well as Chadwick Boseman who was a revelation in Ma Ra Rainey’s Black Bottom.
I agree. And Chloe Zhao definitely deserves a win with Nomadland. That’s why I was surprised Frances M. didn’t win. Also, glad to see Minari win. Have been trying to watch that one.
We are largely in agreement here and your review as always is superbly written!! Andra Day does well with the singing sequences in THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY of course but the film is crafted strictly by the numbers and it wallows in the misery that was part of the subject matter, but never probes beneath the surface in its episodic construction. Holiday is one of the most fascinating artists of the last hundred years and the film showcases some unforgettable sequences, but overall I thought it a mixed effort with a strong lead performance when it is in the right element. A few of the supporting performances are fine and one can never fail to be captivated and inspired by the song “Strange Fruit.” Day may deserve to sneak in for a nomination, but to me she does not deserve to win over the likes of Davis, Mulligan or McDormand (or even the promising young star of the abortion movie for that matter).