Another disappointing biopic. If one knew almost nothing about Nina Simone and watched this movie to learn more about her, one would still be left to wonder what made her different from other singers. The story is set in the later, frequently troubled years of her career and while there are some flashback scenes to earlier years, but nothing really serves to explain her rise to popularity and fame. Ms. Saldana, while looking and sounding nothing at all like Nina Simone, gives an okay performance. The fact that her singing sounds nothing like Ms. Simone's is part of the reason why the uninformed may be left to wonder what made Ms. Simone special. Ms. Saldana's singing lacks any of the passion and intensity which characterized Ms. Simone at her best, but she does occasionally simulate her phrasing. This film is not as embarrassingly bad as say Lady Sings The Blues, but it is a well-intentioned misfire.
And really now -- a Nina Simone biopic which includes a good number of her songs, but not "Mississippi Goddamn"??? And the only character who mentions the song, refers to it only as "Mississippi". Were the filmmakers afraid in this day and age of offending Mississippi? Goddamn.