Although the confidante of Martin Luther King (played here by Aml Ameen) is down for the struggle, his out-and-proud antics predictably ruffle the feathers of conservative Black leaders like NAACP head Roy Wilkins (a subdued Chris Rock) and U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell (an oily-ass Jeffrey Wright). Wolfe begins with Powell thwarting Rustin\u2019s plans to stage a protest at the Democratic Convention, with MLK leading the charge, when Powell threatens to leak in the press that Rustin and King may have something going on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While Rustin did a lot of movie-worthy things in his life, Rustin<\/em> mostly concentrates on how he rounded up his ol\u2019 friend Martin and a bunch of young folks to organize the March on Washington. Domingo clearly has a blast as Rustin, who zestily fights for change while swatting away the haterade his stodgier colleagues bring to the table. The cast also includes veteran Black actors (Glynn Turman, Audra McDonald, CCH Pounder) you knew would show up as other key figures. It is kinda unfortunate that Wolfe keeps things spicy by drumming up some soap opera-ish conflict, with Rustin engaged in an illicit love triangle with his white male \u201cassistant\u201d (Gus Halper) and a Black man (Johnny Ramey) who is closeted, married and<\/em> a preacher. (That guy is less of a character and more of a walking emblem of Black hypocrisy and repression.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite some quick moments of man-on-man action, Rustin<\/em> mostly plays it safe. (It\u2019s almost like Wolfe was worried audiences might get scared off if the film exhibited too much angry, wig-snatching bite.) However, considering it begins with recreated, slo-mo images of Black people going through humiliating hell by white folks during peaceful protests, this is still quite possibly the jazziest civil-rights movie ever made. With Branford Marsalis providing the bopping, Blue Note Records-style soundtrack, Wolfe moves this thing along with a zippy rhythm. He refuses to wallow in the familiar, dire woefulness that\u2019s usually included in films like these. Even when the story has to pause for a moment of intimate drama, it\u2019s a brief pause. Once it gets going, both Rustin and Rustin<\/em> never stop for a pity party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although <\/em>Barack and Michelle Obama are proudly billed as executive producers (the former President gave Rustin a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013), Rustin<\/em> has a lot of LGBTQIA+ voices both behind and in front of the camera. Both Domingo and Wolfe are openly gay, and so are screenwriters Julian Breece and the recently exonerated<\/a> Dustin Lance Black (who won an Oscar writing for screenplay for that other gay-activist biopic Milk<\/em>), as well as Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen (American Beauty<\/em>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is something satisfying about watching a biopic about a gay Black man (with Netflix footing the bill!) that doesn\u2019t seem condescending, mawkish or offensive, mainly because some of the people who worked on it are gay, Black men too. Rustin<\/em> is another effective, entertaining example of what happens when you bring the right people in to tell a true story \u2014 their<\/em> story \u2014 the right way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Rustin” is in theaters now and on Netflix Friday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/rustin2-1024x683.jpg\")
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