Review of Barry (2016) by David K — 24 Dec 2016

'Barry', the second Barrack Obama slice of life of 2016 takes us to 1981 when Obama was an undergrad at Columbia University in Manhattan. The first thing you notice (after the fact Obama is a heavy smoker) is the striking resemblance between the future president and the man who plays him. Devon Terrell who was born in California, but grew up in Australia, is a dead on match.

While it's great to see Ellar Coltrane of "Boyhood' in his first feature since the life changing role, his profession is not acting. Coltrane plays Will, Obama's college friend. His presence is distracting. The rest of the supporting cast is a breath of fresh air. What a welcome sight to see Jason Mitchell as a happen chance friend. Ashley Judd portrays Obama's mother. Avi Nash (Saleem) who Obama crashes with his first day in NYC does his Obama impression and it's magnificent.

There is a lot of walking and observing from Obama. I get it he's introspective and brilliant, but there's not much to this. This is one of those eight page screenplays with little of interest. The subject may just not be that captivating except in his own mind. This is the kind of film the mainstream media is going to love, but has little to offer in terms of depth or intrigue. Netflix offers this up and they have shown an ability to garner big hits, but this has more of a TV movie feel. Obama deserves better and so does the audience.