TIFF 2024: The Piano Lesson Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

The work of playwright August Wilson has been a frequent target for film adaptations. His plays have found plenty success on the Broadway stage and the films adapted from his work, 2016’s Fences and 2020’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, have found similar success, garnering a plethora of award nominations and wins over their respective runs. Over their aforementioned stage runs, the films have often found some carryover as actors from each play return for their film adaptations and vice versa. The Piano Lesson, the latest Wilson adaptation and the feature directorial debut of Malcolm Washington, looks to follow that same path. Meanwhile, the play itself has a history to it with Samuel L. Jackson appearing in the first stage production in November 1987 in the lead role of “Boy Willie.” After a television adaptation in 1995, the play saw a revival in 2022 with Jackson taking on the role of “Doaker” with John David Washington taking on “Boy Willie.” Opening to strong reviews and earning Tony nominations for Best Revival of a Play and Best Actor for Jackson, the revival also featured Ray Fisher and Michael Potts. All four return in this film adaptation, along with Danielle Deadwyler who delivers another knockout performance.

The Piano Lesson takes place in 1936 Pittsburgh and revolves around a conflict between a pair of siblings about a certain piano. A family heirloom with a tragic history tied to their family’s past as slaves in Mississippi, Boy Willie (John David Washington) wanted to move on and sell the piano to buy their former owners’ land while his sister Berniece (Deadwyler) refused to part ways with it for sentimental reasons. Over the course of the film, audiences learn the history of the titular piano and its part in the legacy of their family. Berniece saw the piano for what it was and what it represented, carved with intricate images of their enslaved ancestors, and Boy Willie’s apparent lack of concern over the piano, seeing it as a means to an end, fueled the growing tension between them. The piano was what defined their family and parting with it would dishonor them as she would be losing a piece of herself. Ultimately, the piano is merely a window into their word and a symbol for the characters to rally around. While the piano’s history is a compelling story in and of itself as was the characters’ contemplation of the past, present, and future in relation to the family’ legacy and those who played a part in it, the characters lacked enough depth to bring it all of its emotional beats together.

For a stage adaptation to break through, it’s all about the performances and in this case, the film delivers in spades. The chemistry on display here is what truly brings the family dynamic to life. Reprising his role from the 2022 revival, Jackson was a scene-stealing delight as Doaker, a supporting role that saw him standing in between John David Washington and Deadwyler as they duked it out. The former was his normal, charming self as Boy Willie but the latter absolutely commands the screen with a terrific performance as a woman fighting for her legacy and her family’s demons.

In the end, The Piano Lesson is a strong family drama featuring a stellar ensemble led by Danielle Deadwyler but a lack of depth and a wild climax threaten to derail it.

 still courtesy of Netflix

If you liked this, please read our other reviews here and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter or Instagram or like us on Facebook.

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.