A well-intentioned adaptation of the Broadway show about race in America suffers from unconvincing characters and risible dialogue
There are important, pertinent ideas in this movie, a
Netflix special adapted by Christopher Demos-Brown from his Broadway stage play and directed by Kenny Leon: ideas about
racism, sexism and generational conflict. There are good professional actors here doing their well-intentioned best. The dialogue might well have worked well enough in the theatre – well enough to make it a hit, clearly. But on the screen, it’s a deafening misfire, like the most unbearable, unwatchable daytime TV soap filled with the most awful self-conscious hamminess, parodic emoting and pointless shouting-at-each-other acting.
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