REVIEW BY: Darren Zakus - 11/10/24

RATING 3.5 out of 5

The Piano Lesson is an August Wilson adaptation through and through with a rich, dialogue heavy film that showcases a sensational supporting performance from Danielle Deadwyler and despite it being the most cinematic of the recent adaptations of Wilson’s plays, it is unable to fully break free from its theatrical stage roots.

For decades, August Wilson’s plays have formed an important part of American playwright history, and Denzel Washington has made it his own mission to see all ten plays in Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle be adapted so they can reach a larger audience. It started with Fences back in 2016, which garnered critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Viola Davis, and continued with 2020’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which marked the final film appearance of the late Chadwick Boseman. While remaining as producer of the next Wilson adaptation, Denzel Washington is passing the torch down to his sons Malcolm and John David Washington for The Piano Lesson. The film marks the directorial and written debut of Malcolm Washington, who with a cast featuring his brother, Danielle Deadwyler, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins and Samuel L. Jackson, skillfully adapts Wilson’s play for the big screen while evoking great performances from his cast, even if you feel that spark that live theatre provides audiences would add to this captivating story.

The previous two Wilson adaptations garnered critical acclaim for their performances, so it is no surprise that The Piano Lesson features just as strong performances. Being a stage play, the material is there for the entire cast to work with to create rich characters as they unpack the history of their family through the heirloom of the family piano featuring carvings made by their slave ancestor and what to do with their family’s legacy. John David Washington, Hawkins and Fisher are all excellent, young Skylar Aleece Smith is impressive as Maretha, and Jackson never for a second fails to amaze as he reprises his Tony Award nominated role. But, this film belongs to Deadwyler who is a force to be reckoned with every second she is on screen. Powerful, captivating and spiritually infused, Deadwyler breathes life into Berniece as she gives the future looking perspective of the debate against John David Washington’s Boy Willie’s past looking perspective. There is a longingness to her performances that taps into the viewers’ emotions, while the connection she creates with each of her co-stars leads to incredible exchanges of Wilson’s dialogue, making her a shoe in for a Best Supporting Actress nomination at next year’s Academy Awards.

From a directorial point of view, Malcolm Washington does a great job at bringing The Piano Lesson from the stage to the screen. From the weaving of the history of the Charles family through flashbacks, multiple locations, the cinematography, all culminating in an exciting third that goes full blown haunted house with immersive sound design and cinematography that allows the film to flirt with the horror genre in a final act that echoes the tension of the film’s story, its skillful direction that allows all of this to happen without losing the narrative thread. When this technical aspect of his direction is combined with the great performances he evokes from the film’s cast, The Piano Lesson marks an impressive directorial debut from Malcolm Washington that proves that there is no shortage of talent in the Washington family. 

Where the film adaptation of The Piano Lesson is not able to escape its theatrical roots is the film’s screenplay. Wilson’s writing is full of fast paced, almost lyrical dialogue that helps to create complex characters for the actors to explore, and when adapting his plays, there has to be a serious consideration of how much of the original text to keep and what parts to alter to help fit the story better for the screen. Malcolm Washington and his co-writer Virgil Williams never sacrifice Wilson’s voice in their screenplay, allowing the film to be full of fast paced dialogue that drives the narrative. It's the right way to explore the story’s discussion of legacy, how to handle a family’s legacy and grapple with its past, though it's such an overload of dialogue that it diminishes the cinematic elements of the film and evokes a theatrical setting where these performances would truly soar as there is the space for a strong connection between the actors and the audience.

Stage and cinema have had an intertwined history, and will continue to do so for decades to come, and hopefully August Wilson adaptations will continue to be part of that relationship to bring his great stories to a wider audience. With its carefully plotted dialogue that captures the grandeur of August Wilson’s storytelling through the excellent performances of the entire cast, not even the stage play feeling of The Piano Lesson can distract from the talent on display. Marking an notable directorial debut from Malcolm Washington in his father’s passion project of adaptations all of August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle for the screen, The Piano Lesson becomes a captivating and thought provoking exploration of legacy and the future thanks to its great cast and an Oscar worthy Danielle Deadwyler even if its cinematic nature is held back by its inescapable theatrical nature.