Synopsis
The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.
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Cast
- Zoe SaldañaNina Simone
- David OyelowoClifton Henderson
- Mike EppsRichard Pryor
- Ella ThomasLorraine Hansberry
- Ronald GuttmanHenri Edwards
- Ella JoyceClifton's Mom
- Keith DavidClifton's Father
- Mary Pat GleasonOrdlery Pat
- Siena GoinesHeather
- Kit Leonard DennisLawyer
Recommendations
- 50
The Hollywood Reporter
A certain integrity and seriousness of intent gleams through, but Nina is just too big a subject, and talent, to be compressed into such a small package. - 50
Entertainment Weekly
Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy) is an accomplished and bankable actress, but she doesn’t look much like Simone. That has led to several complaints, including from the Simone estate. - 40
Variety
Even when not fighting with her makeup, Saldana’s Simone rarely feels fully formed. - 40
Village Voice
The filmmakers have denied us their subject's voice and then sunk their lead by adding distancing layers between the audience and her chief instrument, her face. Even the script exhibits little confidence in this Nina's ability to communicate to us what matters. - 33
The A.V. Club
Nina has been so thoroughly misconceived, on virtually every level, that the only less interesting portrait imaginable would be one that takes place entirely when Nina Simone was in utero. - 30
New York Daily News
This Simone film hits all the wrong notes early. What is it trying to say about this enraged, iconic singer? Why does it want to say it? Since screenwriter Cynthia Mort apparently never asked those questions, director Cynthia Mort can't offer any answers. - 25
IndieWire
Saldana delivers her distractingly affected performance with greater conviction than most could muster under these circumstances, but no amount of ferocity can disguise the discrepancy between the 37-year-old actress (33 at the time of filming) and the 62-year-old woman she's playing. - 25
Slant Magazine
The film is committed to the sort of broad strokes that reduce a great artist's life to a spectacle of self-pity.
