My deepest thanks to Denzel Washington. I had no idea who August Wilson was. But since 2017’s Fences, we’ve gotten a few Wilson adaptations: and holy cow can he weave a compelling tale! The Piano Lesson is the latest Wilson play to hit the movie screen; turns out, Denzel Washington isn’t the only member of his family to have an affinity for play-to-screen adaptations.
The piano in question was stolen from a southern plantation by Boy Charles (Stephan James) on July 4 in secrecy from the white Sutter slave owning family. The Charles’s shipped it up to Pittsburgh, where it resides in the house of Doaker (Samuel L. Jackson), Boy’s brother. Out of the blue one night, Charles’s son Boy Willie (John David Washington) and his buddy Lymon (Ray Fisher) show up to Doaker’s house. Boy Willie has a deal for land in the South, and needs to sell the piano to get the last bit of money required to buy the land. The big issue though is Willie’s sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), who co-owns the piano with Willie, and refuses to sell it because of the piano’s relationship to the family.
More than most other stage-to-screen adaptations, August Wilson plays are some of the trickiest. They benefit a lot from the claustrophobia of their settings, driving a lot of the action in the films. Malcolm Washington, Denzel’s other son, shows talent runs in the family in this first feature of his, doing a pretty good job with his Piano Lesson adaptation. The opening sequence is electrically lit, really making it clear how important this piano heist was for generations of the Sutter and Charles families. His efforts shine best with how he uses Doaker’s house, basically the setting for most of the movie. During the more ephemeral sequences, Washington transforms his house set into a creepy horror film for a few minutes at a time before returning it to a comfortable area where the family feels like this is just part of the house’s identity, a needle he threads pretty well. Around the edges we leave the house a few scenes here and there as a reminder this is not just a one setting play: we’re in Pittsburgh’s streets and jazz clubs, though the meat of the movie Washington just puts the cameras around that Doaker house and lets them run like we’re watching a stage production.
That’s because Wilson’s words and characters, and Washington’s casting choices are the powerhouse of the movie. Malcom’s brother John David is the interloping driver of the story; he can be annoying at times, but he’s got the most agency, and his reasoning at least isn’t to hurt anyone, it’s just a bit selfish. Everyone’s playing reactionary fiddle to him. Sam Jackson, Corey Hawkins, and Michael Potts have been doing supporting roles like this for years, ably grounding the movie while also crafting unique characters of their own. Ray Fisher continues to prove Joss Whedon did him dirty in Justice League; he nails Lymon’s big scene, showing a depth of character barely visible on his quiet large presence for most of the story. The MVP though is Danielle Deadwyler; no surprise, she’s the best thing in most movies she does. Similar to Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men, we feel the weight of the world on Deadwyler’s shoulders every minute she’s onscreen, trying to hold onto a family legacy no one sees except her. Her force is so strong not one of these manly men dares to challenge her, and if one of them does, she combats them with words and those penetrating eyes that you can’t take your eyes off of her when she’s cooking.
So let’s keep those August Wilson adaptations coming! There’s at least 7 more to adapt, and I for one cannot wait to see which is next. Or which Washington family member will be involved. Dare we ask for the triad: Denzel, John David, directed by Malcolm? Or is that too much charisma for us to handle? God only knows…