Review: “The Piano Lesson” is a mixed bag

If only there were good intentions, this film adaptation of “The Piano Lesson” would earn high marks. But wishing doesn’t make it so. And this confused film adaptation of August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, in theaters now ahead of its Netflix debut on November 22, is a mixed bag.

It is the third adapted film in Wilson’s 10-part series, collectively called “The Pittsburgh Cycle,” which examines the systemic and historical exploitation of black Americans in each decade of the 20th century.

The playwright died in 2005, but his work will live on, especially if Denzel Washington has something to say about it. After starring in and directing 2016’s “Fences” and bringing “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” to the big screen in 2020, the Oscar winner is producing “The Piano Lesson” as the main motivator of what could be described as the Washington family’s mission statement.

“The biggest part of my career that’s left,” said Washington, who turns 70 in December, “is making sure August is taken care of.”

This is a commendable commitment with some built-in pitfalls. To date, no Wilson film adaptation has been able to completely break away from its stage roots. “Fences” fared best, winning four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay for Wilson and Best Actor for Washington, with his co-star Viola Davis winning Best Supporting Actress won.

Starring Denzel Washington’s son John David Washington and directed by younger son Malcolm Washington from a screenplay he co-wrote with Virgil Williams (“Mudbound”), “The Piano Lesson” is definitely a family affair. Denzel Washington’s daughter Katia Washington is a co-producer and the film is dedicated to her mother Pauletta Washington, who did not raise Nepo babies. Talent is visible everywhere.

The director opens with something rarely seen on stage – a 1911 Fourth of July fireworks explosion. When the white Sutter family gathers at their Mississippi plantation to watch the show, three are black Men in the house and about to steal a fireworks piano.

Not just any piano. This is decorated with patterns carved by an enslaved ancestor. A quick cut takes us to 1936 Pittsburgh, where the piano is in the home of Doaker Charles (the great Samuel L. Jackson), who shares it with his niece Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) and her daughter Maretha (Skylar Smith).

What follows is the blunt intrusion of Doaker’s nephew Boy Willie (John David Washington) on his shy friend Lymon (Ray Fisher, great), who is in the process of selling the piano in exchange for a piece of the old Sutter house to buy recovery.

Berniece refuses to accept this and sees the piano as an heirloom of terror that must never be forgotten. No spoilers except that Deadwyler is great as she uses the camera to capture every nuance of emotion in Berniece. While the male actors, with the exception of Fisher, rely on surface pyrotechnics, the luminous Deadwyler gives Berniece a lively inner life. Oscar snubbed her as a grieving mother in 2023’s “Till.” Please Academy: Don’t make that mistake again.

It’s the attempt to free the film from its theatrical setting that bogs it down, putting Wilson’s poetic dialogue at odds with the director’s attempt to spice things up with unnecessary action and flashbacks that undercut the impact of Jackson (the one Tony The film won a nomination for the 2022 Broadway revival in favor of an all-too-literal manifestation of the mind of a slave owner.

The horror element works much better as an implication, a sudden glint in Berniece’s eyes speaks volumes about the trauma and loss of Black people. Don’t get me wrong, the film has moments of fiery ambivalence, such as when the men sing a work song with an exuberance that belies their servitude. But the tonal imbalance keeps throwing the film off track.

The Washington family deserves thanks for preserving the work of a master. But onscreen, The Piano Lesson feels caught between the conflicting impulses of respecting Wilson’s enduring art and reinterpreting his words in cinematic terms. They’re not there yet. But the Washingtons won’t give up their ambitions anytime soon. And that is worth celebrating.