The Banker
2020
***
Director: George Nolfi
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Nicholas Hoult, Nia Long, Jessie T. Usher, Samuel L. Jackson, Taylor Black, Michael Harney, Colm Meaney, Paul Ben-Victor, Scott Daniel Johnson
To circumvent racism in 1950s America, two black businessmen hire a white man to act as the front of their company. They discover that buying real estate in Los Angeles is a walk in the park compared to buying a small bank in Texas. This fact-based drama provides an interesting and little known slice of Black American history. The story of Bernard Garrett and Joe Morris is predictably shocking and surprisingly funny, but also somewhat formulaic and not always terribly exciting. Anthony Mackie (in an unusual leading role), Samuel L. Jackson, and Nicholas Hoult give commanding performances.
