Review of Marshall, directed by Reginald Hudlin

I will have to admit: I was not very familiar with the history behind Thurgood Marshall before watching this movie. Unlike many other Americans probably, who could not even name him off of the top of their heads, I did study him in high school when it came to AP Government and AP United States History, but I didn’t know much about him before he became a Supreme Court justice.

I also did not know this movie existed out in the world, but one Monday my 12 PM work meeting was cancelled and I needed something to watch, or I’d go insane. So I turned on our television, went onto Netflix, and started scrolling.

And that was how I ended up seeing Marshall on the screen in front of me. I was in a historical movie kind of mood, so I kind of just shrugged my shoulders, knew who it was about, and decided that today I was going to learn something new about the man.

I hadn’t seen a movie with Chadwick Boseman since his death, so I was a little haunted when I realized he was playing Marshall. The poor man truly was taken from us too soon, and I think this movie is yet another example of his brilliance as an actor.

Let’s get into the review!

Thurgood Marshall takes on the first major case of his legal career in 1941.

The movie opens right in 1941, when Thurgood Marshall is traveling around the country and taking on cases. He works for the NAACP at this point, and he primarily works with defending people of color who are being accused of crimes because of the fact they’re not white.

Things are about to change when he returns from a case and is then sent to Connecticut. His newest client is Joseph, a young man who has been accused of rape. He worked as a chauffeur for a wealthier white family in the area, but when Marshall arrives to the town of Bridgeport, his new companion for the job is Sam Friedman.

Friedman arranges, not willingly, to get Marshall onto the bar here, and Marshall is allowed onto the bar, but is forbidden by the judge from speaking at the trial. That makes Friedman the lead for Joseph’s legal counsel, and Marshall advises him to allow a white Southern woman onto the jury despite Friedman thinking it’s a bad idea.

When talking to Joseph, he tells Marshall he never did anything to the woman who accused him of rape. He tells them where to find the patrolman who stopped them that night, and then the two lawyers decide to dig deeper into the actual story about the rape.

The first question is why the woman, who was thrown into the river, was placed in the calmer side of the river. At the trial, a doctor tells everyone he found skin underneath the woman’s fingernails, along with bruises. She then claims she was tied to the back of the seat as the patrolman pulled Joseph over.

Marshall and Friedman then realize Joseph was lying, and ask him about it. He admits he has sexual contact, but later in the trial, he says the bruises are from domestic abuse. Turns out he was going to ask her for money, and then the woman demanded he have sex with him. He then agreed, and they went at it multiple times.

She then realized what they were doing and panicked about getting pregnant, and he decided to drive her to the doctor. She hid in the backseat when the patrolman came over, and then, after he left, she got out of the car and tried to off herself by jumping into the river.

Joseph attempted to save her, but she scratched him and jumped. She lived, found someone to give her a ride, then made up the story about rape. During the trial, he’s then questioned about this, and he explained that where he’s from in Louisiana, Black men are killed for sleeping with a white woman.

The Judge decides to allow the statement to stand, and Marshall prepares to depart for his newest case in the South. Joseph is offered a light plea bargain, but he turns it down. Friedman gives the closing speech for the jury, and the white Southern woman Marshall insisted on being there gives the not guilty verdict.

Friedman then calls Marshall, delivering the news.

Overall Thoughts

I honestly don’t have a ton to say about this movie. It was a standard legal drama based off of real events, and while I was not compelled by the film itself, its story was certainly interesting and important.

Go and watch this one if you have the time and bandwidth. While it’s not an entertaining movie per say, it’s still an important one conveying a history a lot of people need to reckon with in today’s world.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.