See THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION

It was 1:30 in the morning and there I was, belly laughing at moments in a new comedy film on Netflix. With THE 40-YEAR OLD VERSION, Rahda Blank has served up a smart, sharp comedy that is one of the best films I have seen this year. She's the lead character. She wrote the screenplay. The film marks her directorial debut. I would put Rahda Blank's film on a double bill with the 1950 classic, ALL ABOUT EVE, in a heartbeat. In both films, we see talented women of 40 in New York City whose artistry is in the theatre world. Both women need to recharge, reinvent themselves to remain relevant for Broadway. Both women are the romantic interest of a younger man who is also creative and also in the arts. Rahda, years ago highlighted as a talent to watch in the theatre scene, is still a playwright -- but she's a struggling playwright. She's trying to keep the rent paid in Harlem. She teaches playwriting to high schoolers. She's gracefully survived the humiliation of one student Googling her to find that the teacher's once promising career has been sluggish for a few years. Which is why she's teaching. There were several times while watching THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION when I said out loud "Girl, I know how you feel. I have been there." You like Rahda as soon as you meet her.

Her agent is a Korean-American friend she's known since high school. He tries to finesse job opportunities for her with an important, pompous and clueless Caucasian producer who feels he has a pulse on the Black Experience. He wants to stage musicals about Harriet Tubman and Ida B. Wells. The conflict comes because Rahda wants to keep her artist voice and vision and not sell-out. But, I repeat, she needs to keep the rent paid in Harlem. She hits on an idea to drop some beats and give her story a hip-hop voice. She writes and performs a cut called "Poverty Porn." In it, she raps about all the sorts of issues privileged White people expect to see in plays about Black life. Here's the writer, director and star on creating this character.

You can tell that Blank has learned a few things from Spike Lee. On Twitter, THE ATLANTIC wrote that she "invokes the style of Judd Apatow." Director/producer Apatow gave us the 2005 hit comedy, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, starring Steve Carell. To a tiny degree, Rahda Blank does invoke his style. Big there's a huge way in which she invokes a style that's her own and not his. The main thing being that the film has a Black woman in the lead role. When has an Apatow production ever given you that? Next, it runs a little over 2 hours, as do just about all Apatow comedies. However, at no time while watching THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION did I find myself saying "About 15 minutes of this could've easily been cut out" like I did while watching Apatow's FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, THIS IS 40 and THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT. And I worked as a background actor in THE FIVE-YEAR ENGAGEMENT. In my opinion, Rahda Blank should be a Golden Globe and Oscar nominee. Bette Davis, star of 1950's ALL ABOUT EVE, would have cheered Blank's performance. Her original screenplay is worthy of an Oscar nomination. Her directorial debut is a smash.

On Twitter, critic José Solis wrote that "THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION is the best antidote for anyone grieving the news about Broadway being closed through summer 2021. It's a love song to theatre and where it can go wrong, but also how it never stops trying. How it never will." I agree whole-heartedly. Go to Netflix and see THE 40-YEAR OLD VERSION.