The Piano Lesson

A beautifully carved piano has been in the Charles family for generations. Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), the sister, wants to keep it and cherish its past connection to the family. Her brother, Boy Willie (John David Washington), sees the instrument as the means to buy the land once owned by the family’s slave owner in “The Piano Lesson.”

Laura's Review: C

Robin's Review: C+

Adapting August Wilson’s 1987 stage play, director and co-writer (with Virgil Williams) Malcolm Washington keeps his production on the stage and it feels the constraint. As the story unfolds, one can almost hear the stage direction as the actors thesp. The exception to this staginess is Danielle Deadwyler as Berniece. The actor envelops her role, becoming the only real person among all the “actors.”  The rest of the cast populate their play-acting roles well enough, but John David Washington, as her demanding brother Boy Willie, chews scenery and, unlike Deadwyler, his “acting” is not nearly as organic and real as hers.

The subject instrument, we are shown, is beautifully carved with the images of the Charles’ family ancestors lovingly depicted. The piano may just be an instrument, but to Berniece it represents her connection to the family struggle with their past. For Boy Willie, it is a way out of his sharecropper life and the hope of a prosperous future.

The seesaw battle of sibling wills could have been balanced between Berniece and Boy Willie’s two worlds, one the past, the other the future. But, her will and determination of preserving the family heirloom tips the scales as her brother’s reasoning, while sensible, comes across as selfish. This is a problem in an argument that should have been more equitably parsed out.

Netflix releases "The Piano Lesson" in select theaters on 11/8/22 before it begins streaming on 11/22/24.