The thing with award season is that it is rich with performances that stand out from the movie itself. These roles can either propel a movie from mediocre to stellar or make everything surrounding it look drab. Cynthia Erivo and Antonio Banderas give their all in the starring roles for “Harriet” and “Pain and Glory,” respectively, but their films go in opposite directions as far as execution.

‘Harriet’

Harriet Tubman, the conductor of the Underground Railroad and American hero, finally gets the big-screen treatment in writer/director Kasi Lemmons’ “Harriet.” Erivo plays the title role starting when the would-be freedom fighter is still a slave named Minty on a Maryland plantation. Seeing that the crime of slavery becoming more aggressive and punishing, Minty makes a run for it, leaving behind her husband, John (Zackary Momoh), her parents and siblings. In Pennsylvania, Minty becomes Harriet Tubman, under her freedom name, and meets abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom Jr.). At first William is reluctant to have Harriet, an illiterate fugitive who had yet to prove herself and claims that God is guiding her actions, lead the cause. But the determined Harriet proves him wrong. On her heels are Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn), the slave master who owned Harriet and her family, and Bigger Long (Omar Dorsey), a ruthless bounty hunter.

Being that this is the first Tubman biopic, there were many high expectations for “Harriet” to succeed, especially with Lemmons, an independent film director best known for 1997’s “Eve’s Bayou,” at the helm. However, as production was underway, hiring Erivo, a British actress best known for her stage work and who in the past wrote unfavorable tweets about African Americans, was met with criticism. Erivo does a good job with the material she is given. Much of her performance relies on her singing ability as spirituals play a significant role in the film. In fact, “Harriet” could have been more of a musicial, with Odom, Janelle Monae and Jennifer Nettles rounding the cast. Unfortunately, they have no singing parts.

Harriet undergoes so-called “spells,” resulting from suffering a head blow from one of the overseers and slavers, that she uses to connect to God whenever trouble arises. Erivo gets up, heads into danger and leads others in ways they don’t see. Although she is small in stature like Harriet, Erivo puts on tall spirit boots that make her appear mighty. The way the spells are done on screen will seem familiar to the premonitions Lemmons directed in “Eve’s Bayou.” But with the plethora of spells in “Harriet,” the plot device degrades how real her heroism was and the dangers she faced. She shows her thanks to God through prayer, and there are scenes where the power behind it is enough. There are also repeated screens that water down the material. For example, there wasn’t a tree, a door or a side of a building that Harriet did not hide behind.

What is different about “Harriet” over past films about slavery is its various effects on people and the personalities spawned from it. It shows how many supported the sin, from the slave owners to the black bounty hunters, and those who weren’t ready for it to end, particulary through Harriet’s own family. It’s not to say that it is a historically accurate portrayal, but these factors may be worth exploring.

Tubman deserves better than this biopic, and let’s hope that “Harriet” is not a one-and-done movie on this fascinating hero.

‘Pain and Glory’

Eight movies together, Banderas and writer/director Pedro Almodóvar can still make fantastic art together.

While Americans are more familiar with the director/actor teams of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson, and Ava DuVernay and David Oyelowo, one of the most enduring and equally frustrating cinematic pairings is between the two Spanish megastars. Their most personal project yet is “Pain and Glory,” Almodóvar’s semibiography on searching for a story to tell in the present when the past sneaks into the picture.

Salvador (Banderas) is about to take part in a 25th anniversary screening of one of the films that is now a classic. He and the film’s starring actor, Alberto (Asier Etxeandia), had a falling out decades ago and have reunited. As the screening comes closer, Sal sees flashes of his past — growing up with his mother Jacinta (Penélope Cruz) while living in a cave, his bouts with pain and illness, and his infatuation with village laborer Eduardo (César Vicente) who as a child he teaches how to read and write.

Much of the film is reflection of Salvador’s life as he is in the middle of a creative block. He has no ideas for a new film, he stays isolated in a nicely decorated home (Almodóvar’s real-life residence), and he doesn’t want to reach out to others.

What sets “Pain and Glory” apart from most of Almodóvar’s films is that this is the least outlandish of them. There are no gimmicks, no wild affairs and no one on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Instead, the audience sees Salavador at his most vulnerable. He has already done terrible things that made him so lonely. His body has gone through so much damage and had even more in store. But he is about to be given a second chance — a time in which he can be his most creative by looking from within.

And while the people and memories that come back into his life are attractive and can steal a scene, this is the film Banderas was meant to make. As a viewer, you get that feeling immediately. One can certainly find Almodóvar within Salavador, but Banderas hangs onto the role as though his own life depends on it. This is what happens with a filmmaker and an actor know each other so well. There is no fourth wall in “Pain and Glory,” there’s just a mirror.

Cynthia Erivo stars as Harriet Tubman in a scene from ‘Harriet,’ now in theaters.
https://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_harrietmovie-1.jpg.optimal.jpgCynthia Erivo stars as Harriet Tubman in a scene from ‘Harriet,’ now in theaters. Glen Wilson | Focus Features via AP

Antonio Banderas stars as Salavador Mallo in ‘Pain and Glory,’ in select theaters.
https://www.theweekender.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_pain-and-glory-1.jpg.optimal.jpgAntonio Banderas stars as Salavador Mallo in ‘Pain and Glory,’ in select theaters. Sony Pictures Classics

By Tamara Dunn

tdunn@timesleader.com

Tamara Dunn is the night news editor at the Times Leader. She is also a film lover who counts “Rear Window” and “Black Panther” as her favorites.