'The Piano Lesson' Reviews: "John David Washington has one of his best turns"

         On November 8, 2024, with a streaming release on November 22nd, Netflix released 'The Piano Lesson'', which has earned rave reviews, currently holding at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. In the film, which is "Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, The Piano Lesson follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which documents the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor." The ensemble cast includes John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins, and Danielle Deadwyler. But what did the critics say?

       Pete Hammond of Deadline Hollywood Daily says, "Continuing Denzel Washington‘s stated quest to bring new film versions of iconic playwright August Wilson‘s 10-play Century Cycle (aka Pittsburgh Cycle since nearly all take place in the writer’s hometown), he has now come in as producer (with Todd Black) of one of Wilson’s most celebrated works, the 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning The Piano Lesson, previously made as a TV movie in 1995 and in 2022 the subject of a major Broadway revival. Finding success with his 2016 film version of Fences following its Tony-winning Broadway revival and bringing an Oscar to Viola Davis as well as Denzel’s 10th nomination, and then 2020’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, this seems like a natural move as well as a work that perhaps lends itself better than others in Wilson’s canon to a cinematic adaptation." Adding, "Acting honors go to Deadwyler, so great in the recent Till ,who captures Berniece’s love of family but also her own contradictions. John David Washington has one of his best turns, impressively embodying Boy Willie while acting opposite Jackson, the man who created him on stage all those years ago and now takes on another much older character in the story, still knowing just the right beats to play in Wilson’s sandbox of knockout dialogue. Jackson, Washington, Fisher, and Potts are all reprising their Broadway roles joined by an exceptional cast clearly drawn to doing Wilson proud."

       Lovia Gyarkye of Hollywood Reporter notes, "Deadwyler submits herself completely to the will of her character. She slips into her skin with a quiet ease and, once bonded, finds and reveals her truth. The results are often electric."

Photo by Martti Salmi on Unsplash 

       J. Don Birnam of Next Best Picture praises the film, stating, "And the eponymous Piano may as well be Berniece’s very heart and soul. It carries the heavy history of their family, the suffering, but also the perseverance. Willie’s desire to rid their family of the instrument so that he can take over the land of the man who oppressed them for generations is superficially appealing and quite understandable. What better way of turning the tables on your enslaver than owning his land? In the face of this, Berniece’s desire to hold on to this piece of wood, to this shrine to the suffering of Charles’ family, seems to make no sense. However, the piano holds a lesson that does not immediately meet the eye, and as “The Piano Lesson” reaches its climatic third act, the beauty of Wilson’s lessons becomes apparent. The point is that suffering can be expiated in more profound ways. Willie wants to simply move on from the past. But, for Wilson, it is not sufficient or satisfactory to just do so. Instead, confronting the past and bringing its souls with you will build out the true path toward redemption. “The Piano Lesson” gets a bit over the top in its climatic rendition, with Washington acting too much like he’s still on stage and not in front of a camera, and the schizophrenic editing by Leslie Jones betraying the director’s own inexperience. But the proverbial ghouls of a first-time director are exorcised just in time before they can bring down the entire edifice he had carefully constructed." Continuing, "When the dust settles, and the Charles Family contemplates its future, Wilson’s signature humanism will be on full display, together with the compelling, complex nature of his characters, thanks to the talent of this remarkable cast. And the principal motif of his play, the piano’s core lesson—that a single, perhaps unremarkable object can hold the key to personal salvation—will take your breath away."