Harriet

Harriet

Starring Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Joe Alwyn, Janelle Monae

Directed by Kasi Lemmons

The superhero origin movie has forever changed the landscape of cinema, opening doors for the superhero movies to crowd the market, and they're filled with tremendous action, pulse-pounding suspense, and memorable characters who always do the right thing.  Yet these superheroes are made up - they never existed, and never will.  Yet there are real superheroes among us: ordinary people who have done the extraordinary to change the world forever, and more often than not, these stories don't get the glitzy, glamorous big-screen treatment.  Thankfully, after decades of being ignored on the big screen, the superhero origin story of Harriet Tubman - the "Moses" of slavery who brought her fellow African American slaves to freedom - has been told on the biggest screens possible, for the whole world to fully recognize what a powerful, real-life superhero is like.  While the film itself follows the typical biopic method, it's heightened by the outstanding, utterly perfect performance by Cynthia Erivo as the film's namesake.

I've said it before in other biopic reviews, and I'll say it again: I don't go to biopics in hopes of getting a 100% accurate true story, because that's what documentaries are for: biopics center on the fascinating lives of their characters, but they also embellish events, create new characters, and change parts of the story to provide a more entertaining experience.  It also - for me anyway - gives me a deeper longing to do my own investigation into the real-life story, and find that it's even more richer than the film gives them credit for.  "Harriet" is one of those films, in which certain liberties were taken, but ultimately stayed fairly true to the heroine's story, and it's definitely one that needed to be told.

Born Araminta "Minty" Ross, Harriet (Erivo) was a slave along with her family to the wealthy Brodess family, including their son Gideon (Joe Alwyn).  After Minty married and asked for her freedom due to a legal action that required it, Mr. Brodess denied the request and made it so Minty's husband (who was a freed man) couldn't visit her anymore.  Minty prayed for Mr. Brodess's death - to which Gideon witnessed - and then that night he died.  The next day Gideon put out a notice, selling Minty.  When she found out, she decided it was time to run, and began her long solo trek to freedom, aided by visions that she felt came from God that guided her and kept her safe against insurmountable odds.

Upon arriving in Philadelphia, she's taken in by abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.) and local proprietor Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae), where she chooses the name Harriet (named after her mother), and is given a paying job.  One year later, she decides it's time to go back to the South to free her family, and she embarks on the mission alone, once again aided by visions she claimed came from God that once again kept her safe and she was able to bring her family to freedom.  This impressed Still, who introduced Harriet to the Underground Railroad, where she became a conductor and made repeated trips to the South to free more slaves, who called her "Moses" - and all the while Gideon and the slave owners fruitlessly hunted her down.

Harriet Tubman's extraordinary story is filled with peril and suspense, which easily translated to the big screen as she nearly gets caught time and again, but remains one step ahead of her pursuers due to her visions - which happened in real life as well.  She credited the visions to God guiding her, which is entirely possible, but it's also possible they were due to a brain injury she sustained when she was hit in the head at a young age by another slave owner.  Doubters will consider the latter the truth, but obviously God was with her through her endeavors, otherwise she would've been caught or killed during her own escape.

Seeing Harriet's story play out was inspiring and fascinating, all the more stronger due to the awe-inspiring performance by Cynthia Erivo.  Erivo is a relative newcomer to the big screen, but has already amassed some critical hits including "Bad Times at the El Royale" and "Widows," but it's going to be "Harriet" that will define her career.  She's already earned a Grammy, an Emmy, and a Tony for her work, and if she can garner an Oscar win (which she absolutely deserves), she'll be one of the youngest EGOT winners in history.  Erivo gives Harriet a strong determination and powerful demeanor despite her short stature, as she walked with God who directed her in the path to take, freeing over 70 slaves from the bondage of captivity - much like the Biblical Moses did with the Hebrew slaves.  She gives countless riveting speeches that sends chills down your spine and had the audience clapping in approval, which doesn't happen much in the movies, at least the ones I've seen.

Surrounding Erivo is a stellar supporting cast including Leslie Odom Jr., Janelle Monae, and especially her arch nemesis Gideon Brodess, played with icy resolve by Joe Alwyn.  The film was flourished with lavish cinematography by John Toll, and included Terence Blanchard's captivating score.  All of those elements - combined with the foundation Cynthia Erivo built - leads to a film that's better than the sum of its parts, a biopic that stays true to its subgenre, but is heightened by the compelling story it tells.

Cinema allows audiences to see stories of real life heroes they normally wouldn't have heard before, but "Harriet" is different in that mostly everyone knows of the life of Harriet Tubman, but it's something all the more magical seeing it play out on the big screen thanks to a career-defining performance by the amazing Cynthia Erivo.

The Score: A+