Harriet: Freedom Fighter and Escape Artist Extraordinaire!

Harriet Tubman is a very important American heroine whose story deserves to be told.  Directed and co-written by Kasi Lemmons, this film tells Tubman's story in a straightforward and emotionally-satisfying way. Harriet (Cynthia Erivo) is a slave known as "Minty" in Maryland in 1849 who flees from her ruthless and sadistic slave owners, the Brodesses.  Her escape is by herself and essentially miraculous.  Minty believes that she is being guided by God.  After arriving in Philadelphia, she meets William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.), who leads the "Underground Railroad."  (Unfortunately, there are no remaining railroad tracks to visit!)  Minty chooses a free name, "Harriet Tubman," now that she is a free woman.  William sets her up at a boarding house run by Marie Buchanon (Janelle Monae), and they become close friends. Harriet is committed to rescuing her husband and other family members, so she makes numerous extremely-dangerous excursions into the South.  All of these trips have considerable suspense.  Eventually, she has a showdown with her slave owner and arch enemy, Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn). The movie is informative as well as entertaining, and I learned a few things that I didn't know before.  Among them was that, in an effort to avoid a civil war, the United States passed a law that made it legal for slave owners to come up North, capture their escaped slaves, and then bring them back to the South – no doubt to the get the living sh*t kicked out of them, or even worse! Harriet eventually becomes a legendary Conductor of the "Underground Railroad," and is among our greatest freedom fighters and abolitionists.  She even led the first Black battalion in the civil war!  Harriet will soon have her face on the new $20 bill, an honor that is long overdue. The movie is anchored by an AAW performance by Erivo, but the rest of the cast is also excellent, especially Janelle Monae and Joe Alwyn.  The film will work fine as a rental, but it's good enough to see on the B.S., especially for Erivo's performance.