Written by: Julian Breece & Dustin Lance Black
Starring: Colman Domingo, Chris Rock, Jeffrey Wright, Audra McDonald
Rating: [3.5/5]
Behind every major event in history there were the individuals who sat as the face of it and then those behind the scenes making it all happen. Those working behind the scenes make sure everything works just as it should in order for the final product to exist in the halls of history. Rustin serves as an ode to those planners and who make it all work as it highlights the contribution of a man not often highlighted but certainly had a major part to play in the American Civil Rights movement.
In the swing of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960s, Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo) had an idea of something that would shake the core of the establishment in the hopes to enact some real change from the lawmakers regarding the blatant discrimination in the United States. Getting this to happen requires plenty of logistics Rustin needs to navigate that goes beyond his detractors but also resistance from individuals from his side.
As someone who gets tasked with planning large events, I felt very represented by Rustin and everything this man had to trudge through in serving as the architect for one of the most important social gatherings in history. The “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington D.C. does not happen without the contributions of Rustin as the film displays, which shows the power of collaboration and if someone has such a powerful vision, great things can truly happen. Getting to the point where it all came together had its major obstacles both for professional reasons, but also the personal when it came to Rustin and his sexuality.
Rustin walked a tightrope during this era of operating in such an important and publicly facing role during the civil rights movement as a gay man. Given much of the leadership of the civil rights movement during this time period centered on church leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. (Aml Ameen) himself. Intersectionality certainly existed as part of the movement, but even if everyone was generally more accepting of this identity, it presented a weakness that puts Rustin in a compromising position. Then you have the implications of him having sympathies towards the communist party and Rustin finds himself on the brink of outsider status on many occasions throughout the film. As we see through this organization’s efforts, he can only control so much, but he can surely lead quite the movement of young volunteers to move towards something grand that makes him irreplaceable.
This zeal and energy ultimately propels this film where we see how Rustin and his other volunteers got out there and collected everything needed to make this March on Washington something that would be etched into the history books. It took more than just planning it, there needed to be efforts to ensure people could get there and have food and shelter while in the nation’s capital. A massive undertaking by any practical measure and as a process person, I truly enjoyed watching it all come together as a part of this vision held by Rustin.
From the moment of the first details of this film seeing release, the main attraction began and ended with Colman Domingo portraying the titular character. Seen as a true showcase opportunity for the actor to potentially receive an Oscar nomination, and the man certainly did not disappoint and even got that nomination. Domingo effortlessly purports this jovial energy and the way he captures the aura of Rustin in this story and delivers these passionate speeches about the importance of what they’re set to accomplish in this film. If anything, this feature shows Domingo can carry his own movie and he shows out in the most delicious ways here.
While not presenting anything necessarily outstanding, Rustin tells us the long overdue story of an important figure of the civil rights movement that has not had his time in the spotlight. His situation carried so many complexities that the film could have delved into if more focused on the individual as a whole but the approach in the film lied mostly on his importance to this singular event and everything it took to piece it together. This aspect certainly worked and created an entertaining and enlightening film as a whole.
Films with Josh 
