Shirley – Regina King Shines In This Strong Biopic

Netflix has hit it as of late with performance-led biopics. While the films themselves have been hit or miss, their performances have often been their saving grace. Rustin, NYAD, and Maestro each scored big at this year’s Oscars mostly of the backs of their lead performances (in case of NYAD and Maestro, co-lead performances). When it comes to Shirley, the latest biopic about Shirley Chisholm, a trailblazer who helped to disrupt the political scene of the 1970s and helped paved the way for women and minorities in politics, the one major takeaway will be Regina King’s phenomenal performance as Chisholm. While the tendency for biopics is to follow a structure which focuses on a major moment in their subject’s lives and checking boxes as it gets from point A to point B. The primary way to set them apart is how subtle and nuanced they go about doing that. Though focusing on a particular moment makes these films easier to follow, they also have to make an effort to have audiences care about that journey from an arbitrary point A to point B. Here, the film does much of the same but within a compelling package full of passion and heart yet as a result of its format, some depth and nuance gets lost.

Shirley, as mentioned, frames the story of Shirley Chisholm (King), the first Black woman elected to Congress and her 1972 presidential campaign. A pillar in her community of Brooklyn, New York, she was a teacher that cared so much about her community that she was passionate about making change and the only way she could do so was through politics. Facing plenty of adversity as a female elected member of congress, let alone one who was also Black during a time when there weren’t that many to begin with, Shirley set her sights even higher and that was to run for the 1972 Democratic nomination for President of the United States. A futile move, at least on paper, her run was more symbolic than anything else. In the face of seemingly insurmountable odds, the relative outsider was going to do things her way alongside her team of long-time friends and advisors, Wesley McDonald ‘Mac’ Holder (Reddick) and Arthur Hardwick Jr. (Howard), former intern and now student organizer Robert Gottlieb (Hedges), and campaign manager Stanley Townsend (Brian Stokes Mitchell). A true test of her Christian principles, she became increasingly acquainted with the backroom game that was US politics.

As Shirley’s campaign inched closer and closer with every primary, she struggled to find a space in the national conversation, finding herself drowned out by the countless other voices in the race. Inspiring and empowering others to become more engaged in the political process everywhere she went, it didn’t amount to much once the ballots were cast. The landscape which she had to contend with was not without its own set of prejudices, being Black and a woman certainly did not work to her advantage whenever trying to garner support for her campaign. Nevertheless, Shirley persisted as she believed in her mission of making change so strongly that it perhaps blinded her to the toll her campaign was having on her marriage to her husband Conrad (Michael Cherrie). Conrad vowed to support his wife and her campaign from the sidelines but the further she went, the further he was from Shirley. While she virtually had very little chance to secure the 1972 Democratic nomination for President, one can’t help but still be inspired by and root for her skimpy for who she was and what she stood for.

Shirley’s journey had its ups and downs and thankfully, there was more to it than just checking boxes. However, still focused on getting from point A to point B, a lot of underlying depth to underscore the issues affecting Shirley and what she represented gets lost, keeping audiences at arm’s length from her experiences. That being said, King, and her effortless charisma, could get the attention of audiences doing anything and her phenomenal performance as Chisholm is easily the best part of this film. Her sheer passion and energy as Shirley were present in nearly every scene and it was powerful to watch. While Shirley was a flawed character that didn’t know all the answers, she was still an easy character to connect with on an emotional level because of King. Even if the story around her had its issues, she made for a strong anchor and will undoubtedly be the most memorable part of the film when it’s all set and done. To everyone else’s credit, Reddick, Howard, Hedges, and Cherrie were fine as characters whose purposes were mostly to serve Shirley and not much else.

At the end of the day, Shirley is strong biopic that shines off the back of a phenomenal Regina King performance but its format doesn’t leave room for much else.

still courtesy of Netflix

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.