10 Worst Rock Music Film Biopics Ever
4. Nina
“Gut wrenching, heartbreaking, nauseating [and] soul crushing.” Not this writer’s words but the words of Nina Simone’s estate, describing this awful movie.
Simone’s surviving family took issue with the casting of Zoe Zaldana and they weren’t the only ones. Among other issues she faced because of her race, Nina was denied access to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. She succeeded regardless and later used her talent to become a prominent voice in the civil rights movement.
With race such a central issue in Nina’s story, it was felt that she shouldn’t have been played by a light-skinned woman wearing skin-darkening make up and facial prosthetics.
Simone’s daughter Lisa Simone Kelly was also critical of the film’s decision to portray a romantic relationship between her mother and personal assistant Clifton Henderson, who Lisa contends was gay.
Put aside issues of casting and inaccuracy, and the film still doesn’t succeed as a piece of entertainment. It falls back all too often on cheap melodrama. Guardian film critic Jordan Hoffman likened the portrayal of Nina Simone in this film to that of Russell Brand in rock star comedy Get Him To The Greek.