Ashton Sanders, left, and Jeffrey Wright in Netflix's All Day and a Night.Matt Kennedy/Netflix
- All Day and a Night
- Written and directed by Joe Robert Cole
- Starring Ashton Sanders, Jeffrey Wright and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II
- Classification R; 121 minutes
I was planning to make this review one giant ode to Jeffrey Wright. While the actor broke through in a major way with his portrayal of Jean-Michel Basquiat in Julian Schnabel’s 1996 biopic, I’ve always felt that the chameleon-esque, gravelly voiced Wright could have been so much bigger than he was ever given the chance to become. There have been minor opportunities for career bumps along the way – his delicious villain in the 2000 Shaft remake, his slick CIA agent Felix Leiter in Daniel Craig’s run of Bond films, his perpetually confused robot in HBO’s Westworld – but mostly, Wright has found himself enlivening the corners of the action, never getting afforded the full weight and rewards of the spotlight.
Read more: This could have been the Year of Jeffrey Wright – but dominating the spring works, too
Sanders, seen here with Shakira Ja'nai Paye, is tasked with carrying nearly the entire film solo, as so many of his scenes feature him alone.Matt Kennedy/Netflix
So, I had high hopes for a full-blown Wright-aissance with All Day and a Night, the feature directorial debut of Joe Robert Cole (co-writer of Black Panther), which places the actor in proper leading-man territory. Much like Wright’s little-seen, or at least little-discussed, 2018 HBO feature O.G., All Day and a Night positions Wright as a long-time convict staring down an uncertain future. I was sure that Wright would be given just as many meaty opportunities by Cole as he was in Madeleine Sackler’s experimental film. And there was an unexpected bonus: All Day and a Night is being released by Netflix in the midst of a pandemic. If ever there were a time for a captive audience primed to witness the underrated powers of Wright, then this is it.
And, so? Wright is excellent, no surprise. Playing JD, an Oakland gangster who is now doing his best to serve time while not exploding in unmitigated rage, Wright balances both inner fury and profound self-hate with a finely calculated sense of discipline. But All Day and a Night is not really Wright’s movie – a fact that is sad, but also great for who the movie does belong to: Ashton Sanders.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in All Day and a Night, which is being released by Netflix.Matt Kennedy/Netflix
Playing JD’s son – who reluctantly, then recklessly, follows in his father’s criminal footsteps – Sanders (Moonlight) steals the movie from Wright with remarkable ease. Playing Jah, an aspiring rapper who is ground down by JD’s reckless discipline, a racist society that expects the worst from him and friends who turn out to be opportunistic turncoats, Sanders gives every scene he occupies a startling, steadying presence.
Cole is not exploring especially new territory in All Day and a Night, but every beat of his story is given an extra, quickening pulse by the young actor he’s chosen to serve as an avatar to how the world tears down young black men every chance it is given. What’s more: Sanders is tasked with carrying nearly the entire film solo, as so many of his scenes feature him and him alone.
Naturally, when Sanders is paired against Wright, the tension hits another, more delicate level – although to offer a fair warning, this happens rarely. It feels like the biggest gaffe of Cole’s work, as if the writer-director was intentionally shying away from the opportunity for performative fireworks. I’m sure he had his reasons – and the director displays a curious, adventurous bent in his other filmmaking choices, including a long and winding trip through an Oakland street party mid-film that marks another of this spring season’s big “one-shot” stunts – but it all chalks up to a series of missed moments.
Still, All Day and a Night offers renewed hope for Wright acolytes, all while reaffirming a new star in Sanders. Fingers crossed the young actor gets more out of this than a Westworld Season 4 arc.
All Day and a Night is available to stream on Netflix starting May 1
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