Review of Nina (2016) by Arseniy V — 23 Feb 2017

Nina is a by-the-numbers musical biopic riddled with every conceivable cliché about "the tortured artist." Nina never decides what it wants to say or where it wants to take us. Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy) is an accomplished and bankable actress, but she doesn't look much like Simone. That has led to several complaints, including from the Simone estate. A certain integrity and seriousness of intent gleams through, but Nina is just too big a subject, and talent, to be compressed into such a small package. Ignore all the politically-correct, blackface haters. Singing aside, Zoe Saldana delivers a decent enough Nina Simone impersonation here to make you wonder what all the brouhaha was ever about. Aside from some clunky expository dialogue and a few concluding title cards, the film barely goes into how Nina ended up so broken. It does try to give her a half-hearted redemption arc, but it fails to take off without convincing the audience why Nina needs or deserves redeeming. Zoe Saldana stirred up controversy by taking the title role, because she darkened her skin with makeup to play the part. That said, she acts with the right fire and sings beautifully and evocatively. During a long, uncut performance of "Wild Is the Wind," one of Simone's signature songs, we suddenly see why jazz fans swooned at her feet.

VERDICT: "In The Zone" - [Mixed Reaction] These kinds of movies are usually movies that had some good things, but some bad things kept it from being amazing. This rating says buy an ex-rental or a cheap price of the DVD to own. If you consider cinema, ask for people's opinion on the film. (Films that are rated 2.5 or 3 stars).