To paraphrase Hamlet, there are more ways to foul up a biopic than are dreamt of in your philosophy. The most common error is the cradle-to-grave, greatest hits approach that reduces its subject by squeezing in too much material. So you could say focus is the key, but then what happens if the focus misses the point?
That's sadly the case with Nina. Of all the dramatic highs and lows and tempests and triumphs of Nina Simone's life, the film zooms in on the platonic relationship between Simone and her assistant/manager/caretaker, Clifton Henderson, near the end of her career. Writer/director Cynthia Mort tells this story well enough, but we're still left wondering why she chose this story to begin with.
Most of the movie's pre-release controversy surrounds the casting of Zoe Saldana as Simone. Saldana's skin is a far lighter shade than Simone's. As they used to say in the minstrel era, Saldana "blacked up" for the role by applying dark makeup. At best, it's a distraction: Even if Saldana was blue in Avatar, we know she doesn't look like this. More pertinent, the High Priestess of Soul, who died in 2003, wore her blackness like a cloak of honor, especially in the years she spent fighting for civil rights. She didn't get it out of a makeup kit.
Yes, I know, it's only a movie, and given its self-inflicted handicaps, Nina is surprisingly watchable. Saldana doesn't really approach Simone's implacable grandeur, but she hints at the fury that was always just beneath the surface, except when it broke free into violence. David Oyelowo's Clifton is rather angelic, but Oyelowo is too good to lapse into caricature.
The how and the why, however, remain vague. How did Simone transform from child piano prodigy to soul star? Why did she show such a flair for self-sabotage? And why does she remain so important? For answers you'd be best off watching Liz Garbus' Oscar-nominated documentary What Happened, Miss Simone?, which captures the contradictions inherent to any great artist's life. It's streaming on Netflix.
To its credit, Nina doesn't try to reveal the whole Simone. If only it landed somewhere more worthy of a visit.
