As someone not familiar with the source material, I can’t say I at all expected a ghostly haunting in this period piece drama.
Based on a 1987 stage play with the same name, “The Piano Lesson” centers on the Charles family. John David Washington stars as Boy Willie Charles, a young man from Mississippi who’s traveled to Pittsburgh to pick up his family’s piano and sell it. His goal is to use the money to purchase the farm where his ancestors were enslaved and have his own land.
His sister Berniece (Danielle Deadwyler), though, is opposed to the sale, noting its importance to their family’s legacy and history. The two remain at odds through the film, and as tensions rise, eerie things start happening.
Other than a fairly elaborate opening showing how the Charles family acquired the titular piano, it is clear both visually and narratively that the film is a stage adaptation. Like most movies pulled from plays, the settings are limited, with most of the film’s scenes consisting of conversations and debates in just two rooms of the characters’ home.
Like it is with other adaptations, how good the movie is comes down to the quality of the source material and the execution. With “The Piano Lesson,” it has its ups and downs. Credit where it’s due, director Malcom Washington and his cinematographer Mike Gioullakis take an approach visually to prevent the film from being stale.
Thanks to some solid camerawork, from rotating shots to a variety of angles, the movie never feels like a narrow portrait of what’s taking place. This is somewhat pushed to the limit the more the movie goes on, but for the most part, the picture never feels too constrained.
Where the flick tends to stumble is how it adapts part of the source material. There is in fact a portion of the play that deals with the paranormal. However, the way the film goes about portraying this feels excessive, to the point where it nearly takes a viewer out of the moment.
Much of this happens in the final act, and the path to getting there can be hit or miss, too. The pacing is rather off throughout the movie, from how plots are developed to how more information is revealed, the film is simply inconsistent at times.
Fortunately, the cast does a lot of heavy lifting here with each performer putting in impressive work. Samuel L. Jackson brings his natural charisma to the screen and he works well as the mediator of the family. John David Washington, meanwhile, chews a bit of scenery in his role, but he inserts a lot of personality to the character which keeps a person invested.
Deadwyler, meanwhile, is the one who really steals the show in a lot scenes. Her character is strong in her conviction about what the piano means to the family, for generations past, present and future, and Deadwyler is great at portraying this, as well as her strained relationship with her brother.
The solid performances in turn help many of the interactions and development of familial relationships captivate the audience. The movie is really at its best during scenes of discourse and debate. So, while the paranormal elements are played a bit too strong and the movie’s nature as a stage adaptation can feel a bit limiting, it’s still not a bad watch. 3.2 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 
One thought on “REVIEW: ‘The Piano Lesson’ is a well-acted but imperfect adaptation”