Marshall

A film about a single case taken by a young lawyer. 1941. Thurgood Marshall travels the country alone, taking cases. One comes up in Connecticut: a chauffeur is accused of assaulting the woman of the house where he works. Marshall goes, but there is an obstacle. Because he is not admitted to the state bar he is not allowed to speak in court. The judge grants him only a seat at the table. The person who has to speak is a local lawyer: Sam Friedman, who handles insurance work and has no criminal experience. The construction comes out of that. Marshall builds the strategy and Friedman says it; the mismatch between them is both the tension and the humour of the story. The production does not cover Marshall's whole life; it deliberately fixes on one case. Marshall later became the first black justice on the country's supreme court. Chadwick Boseman plays Marshall and Josh Gad plays Friedman. Kate Hudson and Sterling K. Brown are in the cast. Reginald Hudlin directed. A solid example for anyone who likes courtroom drama and legal history. For a viewer expecting a full biography, the film looks at one event and leaves the rest outside.