“Nina reveals Ms. Saldana as Nina brandishing a gun, being strapped down in a hospital and throwing champagne bottles. Where there wasn’t truth, they invented it–dark-skinned people are still passed over, even for the role of a woman whose story is defined by her proud blackness. A young Nina Simone would have a hard time being cast in her own biopic.”

Let me begin this review by first saying that a tremendous amount of trepidation went into watching it. It’s not that I was scared off by a wave of terrible reviews, but it’s the lack of reviews, notoriety, or any media surrounding it that scared me. I wondered how it was possible that a biographical film on one of the most influential female artists of the 20^th century could fade into the back pages of Netflix so easily. But for the sake of my research, I put aside my reservations and gave it a go. 

 First, lets talk about the casting of Nina. Though we are all huge Zoe Saldana fans, I was not a fan of her playing Nina Simone. Despite her credible acting performance in the film, I thought that her overall presence on the screen could not match the bold, unapologetic spirit of Nina. That and the mounds of makeup used to darken her skin tone and transform her features to better match Nina’s simply did not cut it. I wish they casted an actress that actually looked somewhat like Nina Simone because her distinctly African features are a integral part of her story. 

Anyway, moving on from my own aesthetically based opinions, I’ll say that it’s clear that director Cynthia Mort crafted the film with good intentions. There are scenes that are completely grasping, like the scene where Simone lashes out at a fan speaking during a performance in which she is singing about the hardships of being a black woman. Scenes like this did do a great job at getting the audience to feel with Simone, which is something that online articles simply cannot do.  Unfortunately, these isolated snapshots were not enough to make up for the problems that the plot presented. Having researched Simone’s biography, and being a life-long fan, I was wildly confused at the amount of fabrications the biopic contained. I understand that no biographical film is completely accurate, but some plot-lines seemed to be present only to keep audiences attention.

I kept waiting to learn more about Simone’s life as a professional pianist and pioneer of the black power movement, but instead was given an image of her as a dysfunctional, hypersexual, addict whose voice was not the powerhouse that we all know it to be.

So overall, I feel that my subconscious fear of Nina is completely justified. Simone’s story was not accurately told, and she deserves better. So to anyone who has not seen the film but wants to learn more about the complex life of Nina Simone; don’t waste your time. Grab a highly reviewed biography, listen to an album or two, and learn the real story; it’s worth it.