Susan Granger’s review of “Harriet” (Focus Features)
Separating fact from fiction was one of the primary challenges facing director Kasi Lemmons and her co-screenwriter Gregory Allen Howard because so much mythology surrounds Harriet Tubman, the former slave who became the most famous conductor on the Underground Railroad.
In 1849, when Maryland plantation owner Edward Brodess (Michael Marunde) denies Araminta “Minty” Ross (Cynthia Erivo) and her enslaved family the freedom they were rightfully owed under the Will of his great-grandfather, she decides to run away, particularly since her husband, John Tubman (Zachary Momoh), is already a free man.
Sensing trouble, Brodess ‘abusive son Gideon (Joe Alwyn) puts Minty up for sale, which necessitates her acting quickly, aided by Reverend (Vondie Curtis Hall) whose local church serves as a hideaway.
For years, deeply religious Minty has suffered incapacitating fainting spells in which she has ‘visions’ of God’s voice speaking to her. “I’m going to be free or die,” she tells her father (Clarke Peters).
Miraculously, courageous Minty makes the 100-mile journey, navigating by the stars through swamps and woods from Dorchester County to Philadelphia, where she’s welcomed by William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.) of the Anti-Slavery Society.
He encourages her to choose a ‘freedom name’ and introduces her to Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae), an educated, free-born black woman who offers her a job.
Now known as Harriet Tubman, she is determined to go back to Maryland to find her husband and rescue her family. Although surprises and disappointments await her, embattled Harriet makes the trip so often that she acquires the nickname ‘Moses,’ eluding bounty-hunter Bigger Long (Omar J. Dorsey).
As the abolitionist heroine, Cynthia Erivo delivers a passionate, powerful performance, heavily propelled by Terence Blanchard’s overly sentimental score, concluding with Harriet Tubman as the first black woman to lead a Union Army raid during the Civil War.
FYI: President Barack Obama planned to put Harriet Tubman’s face on the $20 bill but that’s been stalled by the Trump administration.
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Harriet” is an inspirational 7, hampered only by its simplified, conventional story-telling.
