A state of the industry key is supposed to give a holistic view: Where do things stand over several fronts? Through design, they can encounter as glorified lists in speech form, which consist of scattershot -fun points, with the ultimate takeaway intended to be the sum of all the parts previously discussed.
“Number one on the call sheet”, the two -part documentary event on Apple TV+, which is devoted to assessing the possibilities and challenges for black actors in Hollywood past and present, is a state in the industry key in cinematic form. Not exemplary for anything about its form or innovation (although Shola Lynch’s half, devoted to black actresses, is more successful as simply a document art), it succeeds as all good key: through pure additions. This is an equally impressive a summary of talent in a non-fiction project that you are likely to see this year, even if they are all just presented as talking heads.
But What Talk heads. During the first half, directed by Reginald Hudlin and devoted to black male actors, you have Eddie Murphy, Kevin Hart, Idris Elba, Morgan Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya and John Boyega, just to start. Hudlin, who directed Standout 2022 Apple TV+ Sidney Poitier -Documentary “Sidney,” Takes a rough chronological approach and spends some time in front of assessing the lasting importance of Poitier. His landmark -moment as the first black Oscar winner for best actors, the power of “Slap” in “in the heat of the night”, and of course the representative burden on his shoulders.
As stated by several actors in “number one on the call sheet”, Hollywood often has a quiet mandate that there are only one or two large black leading men at a given moment. Poitier was that guy for many years. This is not a new revelation. But what is new is to hear the stories of how much Poitier encouraged the actors who came after him. When Murphy suggested that he might like more dramatic roles, Poitier urged him to lean into his comic gifts: “You are such a fresh air!”
The demarcation of A-listers only continues to come. It is Denzel Washington who talks about how he prefers theater over Hollywood because he can disappear in characters in a way like the personal -driven medium of filmWith their representative burdens, do not always allow. It is Laurence Fishburne who talks about the power of simply getting encouragement, as when Martin Sheen complemented his spectacle at the set “Apocalypse Now.” It is Will Smith who talks about how Arnold Schwarzenegger told him that the real route to Hollywood success is to think of global box-officials rather than just domestic, something he achieved even despite the often repeated falsehood that “movies with black talent do not travel around the world.”
Of course, “Black Panther” disproved that lie for all the time and was so powerful for Washington that he thought of it as a “passing of the torch” moment. Michael B. Jordan opens in time about how sorry he is that he did not call Chadwick Boseman more over the past year or two of his life. And then there is basically a moment where everyone just stops to talk about how crazy talented Jamie Foxx is. I mean, he is. But it indicates how much the first half and zags. If that decline seems everywhere, it is because it is.
There is also an exciting club here, the best possible type of “boy club”: that these guys really, consciously, always try to share the wealth, spread love, bring more actors in that club and encourage the next generation. All good things to say. When Dwayne Johnson gives it the message and talks about how he wants to pull the next person up the mountain peak with him and then “build more mountains”, there is an undeniable motivating speaker Vibe here (a Vibe Johnson, in particular, often project).
If it is possible to pay it forward in this way, it may also be because the template to be a leading man has a number of measurement values that are quite replicated. Johnson’s path in the industry does not differ from Sylvester Stallones, Will Smith is not as different from Harrison Ford, or Jordan that differs from Washington’s. You know a leading man when you see one. And you know what the idea of being a leading man means.
When it comes to actresses, however, there is not as good for a template, if anyone. There is only one Meryl Streep. And there is only one Viola Davis. They did not follow any other acting template to get where they are. They could only be who they are. There was not a playlist to follow.
Which is part of what makes Shola Lynch’s half of “number one on the call sheet”, focused on black actresses, so much more interesting than Hudlins sections. If the men projects a triumphant vibe and feel like a club-foxx is a great pride in talking about how he deliberately bought a 40 hectare property when he had “done it”, with reference to the unrealized promise made as a liberator after the civil war-actresses feel less like a club and more like a club. Halle Berry’s disappointment that she remains the only black best actress Oscar winner 23 years after her historical victory is evident. When she questions whether her victory changed anything at all, it feels deep.
Lynch’s installment works so well as it is organized thematically rather than chronologically. And she adds a touch of poetry. Literally. Langston Hughes “Madam and the Minister” opens the film (which has been performed by Angela Bassett in the single biggest moment of the entire project) and Lucille Cliflons “will you not celebrate with me?” it closes.
There are incredible stories here: Whoopi Goldberg talking about how she built her career by looking at what roles other actors (Bruce Willis, Bette Midler) had rejected and thrown her hat in the ring to play these roles himself; Gabourey Sidibe talks about her experience working for a phone sex hotel where she and her (mostly black) other operators perfected to put on their “white voices” to act as if they were white women. (It must be a movie ASAP.) What comes here is the extraordinary variety of work on the screen each of these women has contributed and the striking lack of recognition from the academy for that work. Taraji P. Henson’s line about the best actress Oscar statue is awarded black actresses “as Candy Canes”, while the best actress herself seems difficult to catch, is particularly large.
Although Lynch’s section is much stronger, the entire project is extremely worthwhile and hopefully will receive periodic updates. The worst aspect of the discourse on representation in recent years, especially on social media, is Pat-yourself-on-the-back tone that studios have taken, when of course there is always the possibility that they can back down. The Hollywood story has had several moments of representative breakthroughs which then turned out to be single, and “number one on the call sheet” is clear that all winnings need not only be cared for, but to be protected, with basic work for the future.
The best state of the industry keys recognizes performance, safely, but also shows how a foundation can be created so that they can happen again. “Number one on the call sheet” achieves it. The condition of the industry when it comes to black players can be stronger than it has ever been in the Hollywood history. Now it is everyone’s job to make sure it lasts.
Rating: B.
“Number one on the call sheet” is now flowing on Apple TV+.
