In Lee Daniels’ The United States VS Billie Holiday, star Andra Day is an A-grade revelation – the script, not so much. Yes, this is a movie that will be remembered for Days performance and little else. The issue being that the plot is all over the place (the second half of the film is especially unfocused). I guess you can say this is a case of the filmmakers “biting off more than they can chew.” The same goes for the style in which it’s all presented, with director Lee Daniels changing up the tonal presentation a handful of times (again, the second half of the film sees it the worst). Luckily, Andra Day is unfazed by this sloppiness, as her performance is as honest and raw as one can get onscreen – and perhaps then some. Yep, the actress deserves all the praise here – in her very first acting role to boot! Aside from Day’s multi-layered achievement, however, the other “star” of this film has to be the hair/makeup team. And while I don’t usually call attention to this aspect of a movie, there’s no denying they have created some stellar masterworks here. So yes, while the film is undoubtably plagued by muddled unevenness, there are still some aspects to enjoy. Let’s just hope whoever takes on the legendary jazz artist next can match Andra Day’s pitch perfect rendition!