Long-awaited ‘Rustin’ restores queer hero to the historical record
Though his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement were monumental, the late Bayard Rustin has long been considered one of America’s most unsung heroes.
Now, that name (or the second half of it, at least) is the title of one of the year’s most highly anticipated movies, and if the real Rustin was anything like the Rustin delivered to us by star Colman Domingo in the film – and we’d like to believe that he was – it’s likely he’d get an ironic chuckle out of all that.
What the real Rustin was like, of course, is the essence of what “Rustin” – now playing in theaters for a limited run due before dropping on Netflix next week – aims to convey.
Like all historical biopics, its essential goal is to present an iconic figure as a relatable human being, and thanks to a slickly crafted screenplay by Julian Breece and Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black, this one devotes much of its screentime to doing exactly that.
