The term "Buffalo Soldiers" was what African American men who served in war were called. There haven't been that many films about Buffalo Soldiers. The Oscar-winning Glory (1989) is one shining example. There haven't been that many films about such soldiers set in World War II. A Soldier's Story (1984), The Tuskegee Airmen (1995), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), Red Tails (2012) and The 24th (2020) are some of the major examples. A lot of those films are about men in combat and the consequences of war, especially as they also have to deal with racism. Obviously, most WWII flicks center on men who are sent to the battlefield. As such, stories centering on Black women, serving in uniform, are limited and won't take us to the battlefield or the war front. However, not every story has to be about the battlefield, as The Imitation Game (2014) proved. There are stories about the Women's Army Corps or WAC that could be mined. Writer-director Tyler Perry found such a story, adapting an article by Kevin M. Hymel.
Ebony Obsidian (Sistas and If Beale Street Could Talk) stars as Lena Derriecott, a young Black girl living in Pennsylvania, 1942. She falls in love with a Jewish boy from a wealthy family. When he goes off to war, she loses contact with him. What's realized is that many families of soldiers have lost contact because the mail or letters to and from soldiers aren't being delivered. This is due to the United States Army being too overwhelmed. Lena decides to join the army because she's strongly opposed to Hitler, but it's her way of staying connected to her boyfriend and possibly a way of learning what happened to him.
Kerry Washington (Django Unchained and Miracle at St. Anna) also stars as Charity Adams who is already serving in WAC. She's in charge of all-Black regiment. She's promoted to the rank of Major when the military's postal service realizes it hasn't delivered anything for the better part of a year if not longer. The all-Black unit of WAC isn't considered capable or fit. They aren't given assignments or missions. Charity fights to get missions, but she keeps getting denied. Her only option is to continue to train her soldiers as best she can and make sure they perform perfectly or better than their white counterparts. Eventually, she's thrown a bone with the military postal service who has to deliver a backlog of over 7 million letters to and from soldiers.
A good chunk of the film is Charity being a tough drill sergeant type and basically continuing that hard-nose persona. In that, the film feels like the recent The Inspection (2022) or even the classic Full Metal Jacket (1987), except being predominantly Black women. Perry's tone is nowhere near what Stanley Kubrick was doing. Kubrick was doing a more brutal and cynical, as well as satirical look at war. Perry isn't on that track. Ultimately, Perry is trying to be reverential and honor the efforts of these Black women in World War II. It's basically Hidden Figures (2016), but set closer to the battlefield.
If this were Hidden Figures, then Shanice Shantay who plays the brash and sassy Johnnie Mae is the equivalent to Octavia Spencer who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. Of all the supporting characters, Johnnie Mae is the true standout, by design. It's likely all the speaking roles are based mostly on real people. Johnnie Mae is by the far the most entertaining. Washington brings gravitas and strength, as well as vulnerability here and there, similar to Viola Davis in The Woman King (2022).
Rated PG-13 for some war violence and racial slurs.
Running Time: 2 hrs. and 7 mins.
Available on Netflix.
