Parents' Guide to The United States vs. Billie Holiday

This disappointing biopic is a disservice to Day's performance, which is Oscar-worthy. She single-handedly saves the film from being a complete mess through her dedication to embodying Holiday's trauma, sadness, and immense talent. Hearing the result of Day's work to train her voice to sound exactly like Holiday's is awe-inspiring. But because the film is so poorly made, her excellent portrayal risks being overlooked.

One explanation for the film's disjointed feel is Suzan-Lori Parks' script: Her plays are known for their dream-like, vignette-style approach to storytelling, which doesn't translate well here. And director Lee Daniels isn't known for his subtlety or for making gradual leaps in logic in his projects. Together, these two elements create a cacophony of stylistic choices, camera angles, and image treatments. A scene might switch from black-and-white to cinema verité-style camerawork and back to the look of a traditional theatrical film. Scenes are cut off before viewers can establish information -- including who a character is, how they relate to Holiday, and their motivations. Because characters flit in and out of untethered scenes and because of the film's focus on the salacious over the core of the story -- how the U.S. government waged war on an individual woman for daring to stand up for her people -- The United States vs. Billie Holiday ends up serving no one.