Harriet Tubman has near-universal name recognition. Soon, she'll even be replacing Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. But the events of her life, which is why her name is so recognized and why she deserves to be featured on currency, are far less known. This makes seeing Kasi Lemmons' 'Harriet' more valuable than just spending a couple of hours watching a movie. It's also like spending time at an educational lecture, gaining a deeper understanding of our history, our country, and ourselves.
Cynthia Erivo gives a phenomenal performance as Harriet and the story itself is truly inspirational. Throughout the film, however, the dialogue often stands out like a sore thumb, dragging the film's overall rating down. It either comes off as far too cliche, mundane, or basic compared to everything else in the movie, making it that much more (painfully) noticeable.
Overall, we still recommend seeing 'Harriet' for the reasons noted above, but just wish the pencil used to write it were a little sharper.
Cynthia Erivo gives a phenomenal performance as Harriet and the story itself is truly inspirational. Throughout the film, however, the dialogue often stands out like a sore thumb, dragging the film's overall rating down. It either comes off as far too cliche, mundane, or basic compared to everything else in the movie, making it that much more (painfully) noticeable.
Overall, we still recommend seeing 'Harriet' for the reasons noted above, but just wish the pencil used to write it were a little sharper.