Movie Review: The Banker (2020) - A True Story, thats Worth to be Told@katerinaramm629d
A true story, a biography, a drama.
When I saw the title, when I saw the actors and the fact that it was a true story, I had to watch this!
The Banker
In the 1960s, two African-American entrepreneurs hire a working-class white man to pretend to be the head of their business empire while they pose as a janitor and chauffeur.
This is the story synopsis.
But there is more to it.
The story starts with a little boy.
A boy who will not settle with what everyone is doing.
We are talking about a very peculiar timeframe .. It s the 60s and things are difficult for black people. They are not allowed to do many things.
The true story begins with two African Americans (Bernard Garrett and Joe Morris), meeting each other and decide to take some great risks that will ultimately provide more opportunities to the African Americans.
They decide to find a white man they could trust and hire him to do business.
However, as they grow more successful, there are more challenges that they need to face and overcome.
The film highlights their struggles while shedding light on the racial and financial inequalities of the time.
The performances of all actors is excellent, and the film photography is great. It really feels as if you live during that era.
What is the story of the banker?
Bernard Garret has shown since childhood that he has skills in mathematics and finance, he has promised himself to be rich. But his father reminds him that there is a big problem in achieving that goal, he is black. Two decades later, in the 1950s, Bernard is married with children. He meets a black businessman named Joe Morris, who owns bars. Together they decide to enter the world of finance, buying a bank. To do this, they will have to solve the problem of being black in a racist society. How will they do it? How will they buy the bank? How can they cheat the system? That's the central conflict of the film...
It is based on real events, those characters, existed in real life, although the film alters some facts and names, it works to see how a talented man, with business skills, had to find a way to deceive the society of that time, full of racial prejudice.
I found it amusing, how they, being the owners of the bank, would enter the offices, pretending to be the drivers of who was the visible face for business, a white man.
That white man, in real life his name was Matt Steiner. He was the man who was the front man, he was the visible face, a successful white man, he decided to invest in the financial world. For that, he received training from Bernard and Joe. The scenes in the film, where the character receives instructions and everything he has to do, are fun.
What happened to Bernard and Joe? As the film shows, they were discovered as the real owners and accused of fraud, both received sentences and served time in jail. According to the film, Steiner was pressured, could face a sentence of more than fifty years in prison, for which, he made a deal and testified against Bernard and Joe.
They were lucky, they achieved what others could not, they planned a good deception, to achieve the American dream. But just as they did, there were millions who could not do it and had to live in condemnation in a society that despised them because of the color of their skin.
The stars of the film are Samuel L. Jackson as Joe Morris and Anthony Mackie playing Bernard Garret, both actors are perfect in their roles, creating fun moments in their interactions, as they are very different personalities. The third actor, Nicholas Hoult, playing Steiner, we have seen him in Mad Max, the X Men saga, Tolkien and other films.
The film had a problem before its release on the streaming platform, which was scheduled for last year, but one of the producers, son of one of the real characters, Bernard Garrett Jr, was accused of rape by his half-sister. That complaint set off alarm bells, suspending the release. A couple of months later, Garrett Jr.'s name was removed from the film's credits, making it available on the streaming platform. Meanwhile, Garrett Jr. has denied the accusations, the justice in charge of the investigation will determine it.
Two ex-wives of the Bernard Garret we see in the film, made criticisms of the film, apparently were not very satisfied with what is said. Come on! It's a film based on real events, you have to add in the script, elements that make it dramatically attractive. It doesn't have to be an exact reproduction, that's what documentaries are for.
The struggle for equal rights in America has been long and painful. Even today there is discrimination and the trampling of any color other than white. It is sad that in 2021, there are people who think they are superior because of the color of their skin.
