As one of our Youth Group events, we took some of the kids to see Marshall, the 2017 film about an early case by Thurgood Marshall. I didn’t think we would make it in time to see it by showtime, but the Ipes made it. The theater was nearly empty on a Sunday night, for a “based on true events” type historical film. Go figure.
The film stars Chadwick Boseman and Josh Gad, with supporting cast including Sterling Brown, Kate Hudson, and James Cromwell. The story is about an early career-defining case that Thurgood Marshall worked on back in the early 1940s. Chadwick Boseman plays Thurgood Marshall, and Josh Gad is the attorney Sam Friedman.
Back when Thurgood Marshall was an attorney for the NAACP, he would travel the country taking on cases to represent the accused African-American, as the American justice system was often biased against the accused. In this case, the Thurgood Marshall travels up to Connecticut to represent Joseph Spell, a black chauffeur accused of raping the wife of his employer, and attempting to murder her. Due to an unforeseen decision by the judge, Thurgood Marshall must take 2nd chair in court, cannot speak, and must advise inexperienced attorney Sam Friedman on how to try the case.
It’s an interesting film, and very well done. For a PG-13 film, it was pretty intense with scenes of partly simulated sex and heavy topics like rape and murder. Yeah, Not exactly my first choice on films for church youth group, but the kids seemed okay afterwards.
Marshall (2017)