Follows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she has a ... Read allFollows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she has a tumultuous affair.Follows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she has a tumultuous affair.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 12 wins & 25 nominations total
Warren 'Slim' Williams
- Bobby Tucker
- (as Slim Williams)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe songwriter of "Strange Fruit", Abel Meeropol, and his wife, adopted and raised the sons of Julius Rosenberg and Ethel Rosenberg, who were executed for treason on June 19, 1953.
- GoofsAt 36:33, an elderly couple of Chinese are speaking standard Mandarin in a restaurant presumably in Harlem. However, Mandarin speakers would have been extremely rare in New York or anywhere else beyond Northern China at that time and for several decades afterwards. Any Chinese in New York and the rest of the States and Europe would have been speaking Cantonese, Hokkien, or some other Southern Chinese dialect, with the exception of the wealthier Shanghainese, who had their own dialect until very recently.
- Quotes
Billie Holiday: You know, the people that are hardest on me are my own race. I need help; not jail time.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Tom Holland/Andra Day (2021)
- SoundtracksPrologue I & II
Written, Produced and Performed by Salaam Remi
Featured review
Breakthrough performance by Andra Day
The title is a tip-off that this isn't going to be a general bio-pic. It's a prosecution of a case. Director Lee Daniels has never been accused of being a subtle filmmaker, but here he and writer Suzan-Lori Parks are weilding a mighty gavel. It's a miracle than novice singer turned actress Andra Day still shines.
The basic facts here are indisputable: Billie Holiday was hounded by the government, had a series of bad marriages and died at a tragically young age (44). Still, Daniels' approach of dwelling solely on the abuses of Holiday's life, whether they be legal, physical, sexual or narcotics- related, does a disservice not only to the singer, but to the 'case' he is trying to make. Daniels uses a catalog of tricks which sometimes work - using 16mm and 35mm film for flashbacks (although using digital 'scratches' on the celluloid is a hoary cliche); And some that don't - a long heroin fueled fever dream.
What's missing here is Holiday's artistry. Her inner soul. She had affairs with famous, successful people of both sexes -- but there's no evidence here of why they would be attracted to her. Surely, she had a wit and a charm that goes beyond being an attractive famous chanteuse. Parks' script focuses on the blunt-spoken, yet needy part of her personality, not her passions.
Day does a remarkable job in a blunt, honest way that isn't all actor-ticks. And, unsurprisingly, the singer shines on stage during the performance scenes. It's a breakthrough for her, even if the film around her is in shambles. One is much better off with one of the numerous Documentaries on Holiday.
The basic facts here are indisputable: Billie Holiday was hounded by the government, had a series of bad marriages and died at a tragically young age (44). Still, Daniels' approach of dwelling solely on the abuses of Holiday's life, whether they be legal, physical, sexual or narcotics- related, does a disservice not only to the singer, but to the 'case' he is trying to make. Daniels uses a catalog of tricks which sometimes work - using 16mm and 35mm film for flashbacks (although using digital 'scratches' on the celluloid is a hoary cliche); And some that don't - a long heroin fueled fever dream.
What's missing here is Holiday's artistry. Her inner soul. She had affairs with famous, successful people of both sexes -- but there's no evidence here of why they would be attracted to her. Surely, she had a wit and a charm that goes beyond being an attractive famous chanteuse. Parks' script focuses on the blunt-spoken, yet needy part of her personality, not her passions.
Day does a remarkable job in a blunt, honest way that isn't all actor-ticks. And, unsurprisingly, the singer shines on stage during the performance scenes. It's a breakthrough for her, even if the film around her is in shambles. One is much better off with one of the numerous Documentaries on Holiday.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Billie
- Filming locations
- Montreal, Québec, Canada(location)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross worldwide
- $1,312,432
- Runtime2 hours 6 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.39 : 1
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By what name was The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021) officially released in India in English?
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