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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Friday 22 November 2019
'21 Bridges' puts New York on lockdown

By JAKE COYLE crime thriller, made with Queensboro Bridge plus
Associated Press sufficient slinky shadows three more doesn’t exactly
How excited James Brown and leading-man charisma engender confidence in
would have been for to do the trick. Even if its the entire enterprise.
“21 Bridges.” Take you to best trick is informing you, in The story is simple, even if
bridge? How about 21 of case you ever wondered, the arithmetic isn’t. A drug
them? how many bridges there heist goes awry leaving
But I suspect even the are crossing into Manhat- seven cops dead. Andre
Godfather of Soul would tan. Davis (Boseman) is put in
give an easy pass to Brian The filmmakers, them- charge of the investiga-
Kirk’s “21 Bridges,” with selves, very nearly got it tion, largely because of his
Chadwick Boseman (who wrong. The movie’s origi- shoot-first reputation. The
played Brown in the biopic nal title was “17 Bridges.” son of a slain officer, Davis This image released by STXfilms shows Chadwick Boseman in a
“Get on Up”). It’s a just- Accounting errors are one has shot eight people in scene from "21 Bridges," in theaters on Nov. 22.
good-enough New York thing, but misplacing the nine years. He’s known as Associated Press
“a trigger.” And no in the starters, you can just about genre muscle and noirish
force will mind if this case skip a stone across the Har- atmosphere. The whole film
ends with bloodshed. lem River to the Bronx. Seal- takes place at night, as Da-
With the two suspects be- ing off a sprawling metrop- vis and the narcotics officer
lieved to be in Manhat- olis like Manhattan would he’s paired with (Sienna
tan, thanks to an image of be such a mammoth un- Miller) hunt their shooters.
them running a light from dertaking that I wish “21 The film tells it both from
an overhead camera, Da- Bridges” dropped the plot the detectives’ perspec-
vis orders the most auda- and instead turned its focus tive and the criminals (a
cious dragnet in the history to hysterical transit author- pair of veterans played by
of dragnets: He shuts down ity officials. It could have Stephan James and Taylor
Manhattan for the night, been one very entertaining Kitsch), who stumbled into
stopping all trains and fer- traffic report. 300 kilograms of uncut co-
ries, shuttering the tunnels But if the movie’s central caine when expecting a
and, yes, closing all 21 conceit — putting Man- more small-time heist. That
bridges. Now, Manhattan hattan on lockdown — is police were casually on
isn’t actually a medieval laughably implausible, Kirk the scene at the time adds
castle that protects itself by (who has largely worked to the mystery that unfolds
moat. Believe it not, there in television) nevertheless while Davis steadily closes
are holes in this plan. For invests his movie with some in.q
Michelle Obama signs 'Becoming'

copies on book's anniversary

By DARLENE SUPERVILLE
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Mi-
chelle Obama marked one
year since publication of
her best-selling memoir at a
book signing in the nation's
capital Monday.
"It's so good to meet you,"
the former first lady told pa-
trons as she signed copies
of "Becoming" at a Wash-
ington, D.C., bookstore.
More than 11.5 million cop-
ies of the memoir have
been sold worldwide since Former first lady Michelle Obama greets people as they buy
it was first published in No- signed copies of her book, "Becoming," Monday Nov. 18, 2019,
vember 2018. at Politics and Prose Bookstore in Washington.
Mrs. Obama then em- Associated Press
barked on a rock-star-style coming," along with an ac- land, told those still waiting
tour of more than 30 cities companying journal being outside as she left the store
in the U.S., Canada and Eu- released Tuesday. that "it's worth the wait."
rope to promote the book. "She looks so much young- Myers said she had missed
Patrons did not seem to er than I thought," one man two previous opportunities
mind the hours-long wait was overheard saying as to see Mrs. Obama at her
outside in the November he waited in line. book events. But on Mon-
chill before they were ush- "She looks beautiful," ex- day, Myers was 26th in line.
ered inside the bookstore. claimed a woman. "Oh my "She took the time to look
Behind a black curtain, Mrs. gosh. Oh my gosh," gushed me in the eye, to shake my
Obama sat at a table. The another woman in line. hand," Myers said. "She's
shelves behind her were Rosalind Myers, an attor- a beautiful woman inside
stacked with copies of "Be- ney from Rockville, Mary- and out."q