This New Netflix Film Has Great Performances But Doesn't Really Work

Danielle Deadwyler as Berniece and John David Washington as Boy Willie in "The Piano Lesson."David Lee/NetflixThe latest adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson” premiered Friday on Netflix.“The Piano Lesson” is set in 1939 and centers Boy Willie (John David Washington), who travels from Mississippi to Pittsburgh with his friend Lymon (Ray Fisher) to sell watermelons and convince his sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler) to sell their family heirloom, a storied piano.

Samuel L.Jackson portrays their uncle Doaker in the film.

Michael Potts, Corey Hawkins and Skylar Aleece Smith also star.Through flashbacks, the film follows the story of the Charles family, who were enslaved and then traded for the piano by their enslaver Sutter (Jay Peterson).

The patriarch of the Charles family, Boy Charles (Stephan James), carved his family into the instrument; years later, Boy Charles steals the piano from Sutter’s family and is murdered by them.Berniece swears the piano is haunted by Sutter’s ghost but also values its meaning to their family.

Boy Willie wants to get rid of the piano and build a more stable future for him and his family.Advertisement Much of the cast has close ties to Wilson’s play, which first premiered in 1987 at Yale Repertory Theater and starred Jackson as Boy Willie.

Washington, Fisher, Jackson and Potts all starred in the Broadway revival of the production in 2022.Denzel Washington serves as executive producer of the Netflix adaptation, his third Wilson on-screen production after “Fences” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The new adaptation is a family affair.

Both John David Washington and director Malcolm Washington are sons of Denzel and Pauletta Washington.It arrives about three decades after Wilson’s production was first adapted for the screen.

That 1995 film starred Charles S.Dutton, Alfre Woodard, Lou Myers, Carl Gordon and Zelda Harris.

Many critics and fans have lauded the cast’s performances, and maga...