Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview

Tag Archives: Leslie Odom Jr.


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My Review of HAMILTON

Hamilton, rated PG-13
****

Hamilton, showing exclusively on the Disney+ network (which paid $75 million for the worldwide rights to the film), is a live taping of the award-winning stage production (11 Tony Awards, Grammy Award and Pulitzer Prize for Drama). The musical about the life of Alexander Hamilton, one of our Founding Fathers, was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was inspired by Ron Chernow’s book Alexander Hamilton.
My wife and I saw the musical a few years ago in Chicago. The film version adds to that experience with excellent cinematography and sound quality. The film provides close ups that you couldn’t experience in the theatre, unless you had (very expensive) seats close to the stage.
Two things I highly recommend before watching the film are:

  1. Become familiar with Alexander Hamilton’s incredible life story. You can do that by reading my review of Chernow’s book here.
  2. Listen to the Original Broadway Cast recording of the musical. The story is told almost entirely in song. Miranda uses a variety of musical styles, mostly rap, and the lyrics come very fast. It will help you to enjoy the film if you are somewhat familiar with the songs.

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My Review of HARRIET

Harriet, rated PG-13
*** ½

Harriet is a well-made and acted film about Harriet Tubman’s escape from slavery and her work with the Underground Railroad. The film is directed by Kasi Lemmons. Lemmons co-wrote the film with Gregory Allen Howard (Remember the Titans). Lemmons has indicated that she wanted to make a freedom film, not a slavery film. As such, there are no beatings or lynchings depicted in the film.
The story is told chronologically, beginning in Maryland in 1849. Araminta “Minty” Ross, played by Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), is married to the freeman John Tubman, played by Zackary Momoh. Tubman has obtained legal documentation to verify that under the terms of a will left behind by the great-grandfather of Maryland plantation owner Edward Brodess, played by Michael Marunde, Minty, her siblings and their mother should have been freed more than a decade ago. But Minty is denied the freedom that she’d been promised, and when she is to be sold to slave owners from the deep South, she escapes and runs away, landing in Philadelphia after a treacherous 100-mile journey. Continue reading →