The Six Triple Eight

CinemaSerf: When it's brought to the attention of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon) that the soldiers fighting in Europe aren't getting their morale-bolstering mail, she convinces her husband (Sam Waterston) that something has to be done about it. Meantime, a regiment of African American women is festering away at a fort awaiting, in vain, orders that will get them meaningfully employed. Well! Now they have a task, and under the command of their newly promoted Maj. Adams (Kerry Washington) are posted to Europe. They are unaware of the sale of their project until presented with half a dozen enormous hangars full to the brim of rotting envelopes, packages and their fair share of rats. Chief amongst the newly arrived soldiers is "Lena" (Ebony Obsidian) who joined up after her beau "Abram" (Gregg Sulkin) went off to war as a pilot and was reportedly killed in action. She, and her determined colleagues, are determined to make a difference and the remainder of this drama depicts their struggles against their own side rife with bigotry and sexism whilst the bombs are never far away and the task is quite literally Herculean - only they can't just divert a river to solve this one. It's a fact, so the conclusion isn't in doubt, and the story is quite an interesting one as it not only challenges stereotypical attitudes, but quite poignantly illustrates how downright counter-productive these were. The execution, though, is all rather bland. Washington is competent but nothing more, indeed that's true of almost all of the acting talent on display here - aside from a lively and earthy effort from Shanice Shantay as the the engagingly rough-around-the-edges Johnnie Mae; and the writing takes a sledge hammer to the racial undertones that, once it's made it's bleedin' obvious point, just proceeds to labour that a bit too heavily. It's fascinating to see glimpses of the "intelligence" these women used to repatriate the post with the person and at times it's quite funny too as their intuition and common sense proved astonishingly effective but that's all rather swept under the carpet as the story focusses too much on the soapy elements of their travails. Indeed the ending, and the significance of their achievement, is all just a bit too rushed. It's a film that might have made for a better documentary celebrating the dedication of these ladies. As a piece of cinema, it's at best an high-quality television movie and an over-long one at that.