The United States vs. Billie Holiday review: Woozy drama fails to do the jazz singer justice
(Sky Store, 127mins) The torch singer with the hard life is a cliché with good reason, and none harder than Billie Holiday’s. The 1940s jazz stylist with that uniquely raspy, hypnotising voice had it tough from the get-go, and once fame hit was bullied, used and beaten by a string of dreadful men. Her addictions to alcohol and heroin were well known, and she was just 44 years old when she died of cirrhosis, her voice and body destroyed by decades of misuse. But that’s not the whole story of a great talent’s tragic demise, and in Lee Daniels’ woozy drama we hear how she might have bee...
Source: independent.ie