SHIRLEY (2024) - Mark Reviews Movies

Shirley, Netflix

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Review by Mark Dujsik | March 21, 2024

It's safe enough to say that the game of politics gets in the way of good, responsible governance, and Shirley, about the Presidential run of Shirley Chisholm in 1972, argues that politics makes a good, responsible election campaign nearly impossible. Writer/director John Ridley's movie is less about the woman at its center, which is unfortunate, and more about the various ways in which the election process in the United States reduces everything to soundbites and numbers.

If a candidate can't speak honestly and with nuance, how can we assess the candidate's actual beliefs? Beyond that, what's the point of this system when a candidate who is forthright, considered, and compassionate is overshadowed by those who play the game better?

Such are the questions posed by this pseudo-biographical story that's primarily about how a political campaign functions, strategizes, negotiates, and makes concessions until its lofty goals don't mean much of anything. The movie is undoubtedly fascinating in that regard, because Ridley shows us the ins and outs of mounting a national political campaign on a limited budget, of backroom deals with seemingly earnest promises that are made to be broken, and of how something as simple as a petty personality clash in the ranks can destroy everything a hard-working team has accomplished.

It misses a more specific goal, perhaps, in reducing the main character to an idea instead of a person or even just a candidate. Chisholm here is more representative of the notion of change than someone with specific plans for and thoughts of how that change will come. In that way, Ridley's movie accidentally leans into the very problem with the political system it's attempting to expose.

To be sure, we learn a bit of the candidate's positions, and even if we didn't, the movie makes clear why Chisholm was such an important figure in the politics of the United States. She was the first Black woman elected to Congress, and four years after that, Chisholm achieved another first in that regard by running for President.

Obviously, the campaign didn't go too far, or else we'd still be listing firsts and Chisholm's name would probably be better known than it is. Instead, she's the subject of this pragmatic and slightly skeptical docudrama about the reality, shortcomings, and outright failings of a system that doesn't possess the time or patience for a candidate who thinks before she speaks, wants to find a way to unite people in common interests and goals, and doesn't simply say what people expect her to if she doesn't believe it.

Chisholm here is played by Regina King, in a performance grounded in determination, thoughtfulness, and a level of loyalty that's rarely returned to her. Some opening text explains the importance of her being sworn in to the House of Representatives in 1969, when there were only five Black congressmen among the chamber's 435 members, and despite being told that she needs to accept whatever's given to her, Shirley successfully argues with the Speaker of the House that her committee assignment won't do her or her constituents any good.

The rest of the story revolves around the Presidential campaign, with Shirley bringing on old friends, such as Arthur Hardwick Jr. (Terrence Howard), and her mentor Wesley "Mac" Holder (the late Lance Reddick), whom she overtook in an election for the head of a political organization. He doesn't hold a grudge. As he puts it, Shirley is the sort who does what she thinks necessary. At that time, she saw it necessary that Mac be ousted.

The campaign is difficult, mainly on account of monetary restrictions, meaning that Shirley counts on her former intern Robert Gottlieb (Lucas Hedges), a white law student, to drive the student vote (This is first election after the voting age was dropped to 18). There's also some flak from her campaign manager Stanley Townsend (Brian Stokes Mitchell), who wants Shirley to stop answering questions in detail and with subtlety.

Meanwhile, the other Democratic candidates, especially frontrunner George McGovern and segregationist George Wallace (W. Earl Brown), get more media attention and votes, and Shirley's husband Conrad (Michael Cherrie) becomes increasingly frustrated by living in his wife's shadow. A couple scenes with the husband, one with a sister (played by Reina King, the star's real-life sibling) who thinks Shirley is continuing a lifelong ego-trip, and one unlikely visit to Wallace give us some sense of the woman behind the campaign, but for better and worse, that's not the story Ridley wants to tell.

Mostly, this tale is about strategy in public, as Shirley makes speeches and fights a legal battle to get into the television debates, and in private, as she deals with fellow candidate Walter Fauntroy (André Holland) for delegates at the upcoming Democratic National Convention. The details feel authentic, as does the cynical air of these meetings and alliances that seem too good to be true. Because she's an idealist at heart, Shirley only suspects that to be the case—but not enough for her own political well-being.

It's easy to see what the movie is doing and, through its earnestness and the attentive depiction of this system, easier to admire how it tells this story. Shirley, though, loses too much of its intended impact, simply because the movie see its main character in her role as a player of this game, instead of what made her different and, well, her.

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