The Banker

In 1960s America, Bernard Garrett and Joe Morris find a way around the barriers keeping Black people from owning property: they will buy the buildings and eventually the banks, but they will not be the face of it. They train Matt Steiner, a white working-class man, to play the rich and privileged businessman. Garrett and Morris move through their own buildings dressed as a janitor and a chauffeur. The arrangement works until the federal government starts looking. George Nolfi directed. Anthony Mackie plays Garrett, Samuel L. Jackson plays Morris, Nicholas Hoult plays Steiner and Nia Long plays Garrett's wife Eunice. The story is true. Getting it out was difficult. The world premiere at AFI Fest was cancelled roughly twenty-four hours beforehand, because Bernard Garrett Jr, one of the producers and the son of one of the subjects, had been accused of sexual abuse by his half-sister Cynthia Garrett. His name was removed from the credits and from any share of the profits. The film went into a two-week limited release on 6 March 2020 and reached Apple TV Plus on 20 March. Who it is for: viewers who like true stories about beating a system, and the Mackie and Jackson pairing. Who it is not for: anyone unable to set aside what happened around the production. A film about one family nearly went unseen because of an accusation inside that family.