David Lee/Netflix
We at WERRRK.com are lovers of all things glitz and glam, and our opera glasses are poised come trophy-snatching time. LGBTQ+ organizations have been awarding their own trophies to the q-munity for decades, having been snubbed by main stream awards for far too long. Preposterous, since the queer community is so often the hand that feeds the arts. Even so, we still love to watch the Oscars. Sue us! This year the Academy has thrown us a few bones, so I will review the major LGBTQ+ offerings in the weeks leading up to the ceremony.
We begin with “Rustin,” the Netflix biopic that earned Colman Domingo his nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin. In The Year of Our Lord Goddess 2024, Domingo has the dubious honor of being the second openly gay actor nominated in this category for playing a gay character, a whole entire quarter century since the last nomination of this kind (Ian McKellen for “Gods and Monsters” in 1999). Domingo shines in a film that is not quite up to snuff, especially in light of the subject matter.
Listen. I really, really wanted this movie to be great. Bayard Rustin’s story has been woefully absent from classrooms and, as a major historical figure, he deserves a motion picture that does him justice. “Rustin,” sadly, does not quite hit the mark. Director George C. Wolfe delivers a slick-looking production that can’t swim out from under the wreckage of a sinking script. With any true story, I always ask whether or not the narrative would be better served by a documentary. And because Julian Breece and Dustin Lance Black’s text does not rise to the occasion, in this case I think the answer is yes. The script feels like an early draft rather than a polished story, with much of the dialogue giving Wikipedia entry rather than human speech. The movie acts as an information delivery system where actors are forced to talk at each other instead of to one another, with characters constantly telling each other facts their scene partners would definitely already know. That being said, the film filled some gaps in my knowledge and is certainly worth watching. I appreciate the depiction of tensions within the civil rights movement, especially in regards to gender and sexuality. The sex, on the other hand, could have been a lot sexier. A biopic begs for a peek behind the curtains of history to show us things we can’t read in a book, a feat the film attempts yet somehow misses. After watching the movie, I feel that I know the facts of Bayard Rustin’s life, but I want to feel that I know Bayard Rustin personally.
Domingo’s performance elevates the film and blows the dust off what might otherwise come across as the musty pages of an old textbook. If he does not win the Oscar, it will be in spite of the fact that he infuses much needed passion into stodgy dialogue. Hopefully this is just the first nomination of many for Coleman Domingo. Win or lose, I know he’s about to turn it out on that red carpet, and we love to see it.
