Performance Profile: Queen Latifah in Chicago (2002)

I have decided to take a rest on 1994 -- and the last two boring(!) nominees that I haven't written about yet -- and pick up things a bit with 2002, and interesting year with varied performances across the board. First up is a prime, underrated example of what "acting at the edges" really means in a movie -- especially an ensamble -- and how a small, cipherish role can be milked for all its worth and used for the highest effect possible. This exciting scenerio can be found in the nominated performance given by...

...Queen Latifah in Chicago (2002)

Queen Latifah plays Matron "Mama" Morton, the mistress/matron of murderess' row in a woman's prison in 1920s Chicago, where newest prisoner Roxie Hart (Renee Zellweger, simply luminous in her underrated performance) has been placed under Mama's watchful eye after killing her lover in cold blood.

Latifah's Mama acts as simply that for the fresh batch of ladies coming into the cold life of prison -- a seemingly protective, caring mother figure who plays a simple game of tit for tat; or in her bold words, "When Your Good To Mama, Mama's Good To You". In her intro and only show-stopping number, Latifah's Mama -- in Roxie's (or the movie's?) imagination -- delivers this saucy bit of good advice to the adoring audience.

Latifah performs the number with compelling, toe-tapping zest and appealing verve. Her Mama can be your best companion or your worst enemy, and it rests on the shoulders of the individual, in this case Roxie.

Latifah's Mama immediately takes a special interest in Roxie's innocent nature and reassures her that Mama is here to take care of her and can act as her bridge to the world outside if she plays her cards right within her inside home. Mama also has an on going "bond" with Roxie's fellow prisoner Velma Kelly, who knows how to work her way into Mama's good graces any time she wants, if only for a discounted price.

The odd affection she shows for Velma is caught onto Roxie, and Latifah's Mama sees Roxie as both a means of hustling her way to some extra cash (including a phone call for $100) and maintaining her formidable reputation as the true countess of the clink. As with Velma, Latifah's Mama says she'll put in a good word to get top lawyer Billy Flynn (the horrible Richard Gere, horribly miscast) to represent Roxie in court, and with him she has a very high chance of winning.

As Roxie begins to climb the ladder to infamy, Mama is there as her right-side woman, assisting and aiding her along side Billy for her appearances to the outside world. It seems as though, now, that Roxie has won over Mama -- though in one of Mama's defining beats, she betrays Roxie by handing over her personal diary to Velma to share with the world. Yet somehow, Latifah shows that Roxie is still one of the "chickies" in her pen and that she plays these kinds of games to maintain leverage with all parties.

It's in this quietly complex, contradictory nature that Latifah really find her footing in the role and most importantly, finds a person in a stock role, that in the words of director Rob Marshall, "Is a grand entrance with nowhere to go".The actress' accomplishment in the cliched role of Mama is being able to present Mama's powerful, mercenary intentions while still somehow making her appealing and likable, even as we catch on to her scheme. She maintains her humanity amid everything, and in her performance, Mama is a black woman in this time in the world whose merely trying to get by. She's silently aware of the demeaning stakes against her and uses "walls" for good use when she needs to.

The role isn't much at all and after a little bit the movie seems to have little use for Mama Morton as something other than a device. Yet, (save for Zellweger's Roxie Hart) Latifah's Mama emerges as the only genuine character, one who lives beyond the stage the film keeps her confined to.

Through the combined force of Queen Latifah's charisma, energy, and formidable presence in the role, Mama Morton emerges as something beyond what's required from this simple role. With a glimmer of humanity and a whole lotta personality, Matron Mama Morton becomes a memorably refreshing person where a mere cipher could of stood (see CZJ exemplify this soon...) and remains Chicago's true best supporting actress.