‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ review: Chadwick Boseman soars in final film
died in August from colon cancer at age 43.In the very good “Ma Rainey,” the actor plays Levee, a hotshot 32-year-old trumpet player for the title character, the legendary Mother of the Blues, in the 1920s. They’re in Chicago at a recording studio to lay down some of her now-classic tracks.It will not be a pleasant afternoon.While his bandmates Cutler (Colman Domingo), Slow Drag (Michael Potts) and Toledo (Glynn Turman) all but bow to the famous Ma (Viola Davis), an impertinent Levee has big dreams for more modern music — and wants his own band performing it.