Now Showing: Sam

 

Sam

Genre: Biography/Musical

Director: Gina Prince-Bythewood

Writer: Chad Taylor

Cast: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Keke Palmer, Yara Shahidi, Courtney B. Vance, Jonah Hill, Kedar Williams-Stirling, Trammell Tillman, Eva Noblezada, Loretta Devine, Eric Allan Kramer

Plot: January 2, 1965. A crowd of 15,000 descend upon the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Chicago. Police are trying to get a hold of the crowd as the church can only accommodate a few thousands. A passerby notices the commotion and asks an officer what the occasion is. The officer says that this is for the funeral of Sam Cooke. In Los Angeles, a man (Eric Allan Kramer) sits in a police station and is questioned about what he occurred on the night of Sam Cooke’s death.

In the early 1950s, Sam Cooke (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) is something of a gospel singer prodigy and his father, Rev. Charles Cook (Courtney B. Vance), knows it. From backstage, Charles watches on with a smile as Sam and the Soul Stirrers play to a full house black audience in their hometown of Chicago. On stage, Sam’s smooth charisma has the front row of teen girls in the palm of his hand.

In reality, Sam isn’t too different than any other young male. He and his friend Lou Rawls (Kedar Williams-Stirling), a fellow gospel singer, go on a double date to a nice restaurant. Lou confides in Sam that he is thinking of joining the Army upon graduation, which takes Sam by surprise. He tries to convince him that he has a future in music but Lou’s mind is made up. Sam flirts with Barbara Campbell (Keke Palmer), his high school sweetheart. He lists her all of the cities that the Soul Stirrers will be visiting on their upcoming tour of the South. As he talks, all she can think of is how long this means he will be gone. He reminds her that the longer he is away means the more money he will be bringing back with him and they kiss.

At home, Sam plays around with some of his seven siblings. His father calls him aside and says he wants to talk about the upcoming tour. Charles reminds his son how proud he is of Sam spreading the Lord’s word through music. Sam says he wants to make his family proud and is eager to return to where he came from, having been born in Mississippi. Charles reminds him that the South is much different than Chicago and especially their predominantly black-owned neighborhood. They hug and Charles tells Sam to be smart, be brave, and be himself.

In the South, the Soul Stirrers’ tour gets started and Sam seems to be having a blast on stage. Part of the reason is that someone has caught his eye: Dee Dee Mohawk (Yara Shahidi), a singer who is the group’s opening act. He tries flirting with her but she is initially closed off, choosing not to reveal him her real name. He asks why she is being cold and he says that she can just tell he is a player. In Charleston, the tour group cannot find a hotel near their venue that is willing to accept them so, through the venue manager’s brother, they end up staying at a funeral home. Sam cannot sleep and so he heads outside for a smoke, where he discovers Dee Dee doing the same. She asks if he is also creeped out by their accommodations and he confirms. They lament how messed up this all is, society preferring them sleep with dead bodies than in the same building as people of a different color. He realizes he doesn’t have a lighter and Dee Dee offers hers. They begin to talk more and actually get along nicely. She finally reveals to him that her name is Dolores. He says he has a secret of his own and that his last name is actually Cook with no ‘e’. She asks why he would make that change and he says the ‘e’ on the end just looks cooler and they both laugh.

When Sam returns home to Chicago after the tour, he has a new girlfriend in tow. He and Dolores get married not long after, with Charles officiating the wedding. The newlywed couple go to see popular rock-and-roller Little Richard when he comes to town and are invigorated by his high energy edge. Sam runs into Richard’s producer Bumps Blackwell (Trammell Tillman), who recognizes Sam from his work with the Soul Stirrers. Blackwell praises Sam’s singing and asks if he has interest in branching out from gospel music, noting how well Little Richard’s records have been selling. Sam admits that he has been writing some pop material that he wouldn’t mind trying out some time. Blackwell asks Sam to give him a preview and, after taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Sam breaks out into the opening lines of ‘You Send Me’. When he starts to vocally improvise on the word “whoa,” Blackwell interrupts him by giving him his business card and telling him to come see him in L.A. some time.

Sam breaks up with the Soul Stirrers and informs his father that he is moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in pop music. His father is immensely disappointed to hear this as he had hoped that Sam would stick to gospel music. They press their heads together and Charles tells Sam not to forget how he was raised. A montage begins with Sam and Dolores moving to L.A. and him achieving initial success upon the release of ‘You Send Me’. He is surprised by a visit from Lou, who reveals that he has left the Army and decided to follow in Sam’s footsteps as a singer. Sam secures his friend an opening act spot on his upcoming tour.

On the road, Sam’s new style - known as soul - has the audience in the total palm of his hand. At this time, he is still mainly playing to all-black audiences but his radio hits are finding mainstream appeal. He and the boys have a good time visiting various nightclubs in the towns they are stopping in, flirting with women from town to town. After a date in St. Louis, Sam and Lou converse in the backseat of their car as the driver speeds along a county road. Their driver takes a curve and, upon reaching the straightaway, a semi-truck pulls out in front of them. Their driver quickly turns his wheel but has nowhere to go as the driver’s side slams into the truck’s trailer. In the immediate aftermath, Sam is dazed but checks those around him and sees that Lou and their guitarist are injured but ok. Their driver, however, took the brunt of the crash and it is clear he will not make it.

In the months following the crash, Sam is still shaken by the incident and hesitant to travel. As he spends more time with Dolores, a news story breaks from Ohio that a woman is claiming that Sam fathered a child with her and she is requesting child support. Dolores asks Sam if this is true and he says he does not recognize the woman but agrees to pay the support so that the story will get out of the papers before his family sees. Something still feels off about it to Dolores and she goes to Lou and interrogates him about Sam’s behavior on tour. Lou breaks and admits that they may have spent some time with girls but reassures her that Sam loves her. Being an independent woman, this isn’t enough for Dolores and she informs Lou that her and Sam are done. When she tells this to Sam, things are tense but he says that the blame is on him and that he understands. Their divorce is finalized shortly thereafter.

Sam is contacted by Dick Clark’s representatives about coming to Atlanta an appearance on American Bandstand, a big time television program that has the power to make superstars. This is set to be Bandstand’s first concert with a fully integrated audience, which prompts vocal warnings from the Ku Klux Klan. Bumps asks if Sam should consider cancelling but he insists that he will not back down to hate groups. Amidst the fervor, Dick Clark’s crew make the decision to call in the National Guard to ease tensions. This angers Sam as Clark doesn’t seem to realize that institutions like the Guard aren’t exactly neutral allies to the black community. The hairdresser for the show talks with Sam about various styles but he says he doesn’t want to style his hair in any way, instead opting to let his hair grow out naturally. This is practically unheard of for black singers at this time but Sam stands his ground. Despite tensions on the street outside, the concert is a success and Sam is on a high for having brought together an audience such as that.

The high is diminished when he receives the shocking news that Dolores has been involved in a violent car accident on her way home from work. He tries to make it back to California swiftly but, when he arrives, he is informed that she has died. He cries alone in the hospital room and says a prayer at her side. Despite being divorced, Sam insists that he pay for all of her funeral expenses and her family thank him. He decides to return to Chicago for a few weeks to grieve, with his family welcoming him back with open arms. He has a heartfelt conversation with father about the death of his driver and ex-wife in separate car accidents. He asks if God is punishing him in some way, with him out on stage singing about a “wonderful world” while those around him are hurt. His father assures him that the Lord works in mysterious ways. In his time back home, he spends most of time reading alone, particularly the work of James Baldwin.

At a church service at his father’s church, Sam runs into his old sweetheart Barbara. While things are a bit awkward at first, they get along very easily and agree to having coffee some time while he is in town. Their conversation is interrupted by Barbara’s five-year-old daughter with her and Sam can immediately see the resemblance of himself in her. Barbara gives him a look to confirm his suspicions. He decides to stay in Chicago longer than intended and ends up proposing to Barbara upon rekindling their love for one another.

Upon enjoying a string of hits, Sam looks to level up at this stage in his career. He surveys the various major record labels but his business savvy tells him that their contracts are very anti-artist. This reminds him of the type of institutional discrimination mentioned in the works of Baldwin. Bumps sets him up a meeting with Allen Klein (Jonah Hill), a budding manager in New York. Allen agrees with Sam about the predatory practices of the labels, who swindle the artists out of what they are truly owed. Given that Sam writes his own music, Allen suggests that Sam start his own record label and this is music to Sam’s ears as he wants to use it to feature black artists. He and Allen shake hands. Allen draws up the paperwork for Tracy Ltd., a holding company named after the middle name of Sam and Barbara’s daughter Linda. Unlike other recording contracts at the time, this gave Tracy Ltd. control over the songs Sam recorded with the record label only having distribution rights. He returns home to inform Barbara of this news and she has good news of her own: she is pregnant with a son.

As his success continues to grow, Sam once again charts out a tour of the South, which is bound to be just as contentious as before. In Shreveport, Louisiana, Sam and his crew arrive at a hotel that they had reservations for. Upon learning that Sam is black, the hotel clerk calls his manager and the reservations are rescinded. Sam is irate at this, pointing out the hypocrisy of booking them based on voice but rejecting them based on skin color. He lays the money for the rooms - and more - on the table and asks what difference skin color makes to the hotel’s pockets. Barbara tries to calm him down and says they’ll kill him if he continues to grow violent. He calmly looks back to her and remarks “they ain’t gonna kill me, I’m Sam Cooke.” Police soon arrive and Sam is arrested for disturbing the peace.

A few weeks later, Sam arrives at a venue a few hours to find that the audience will be segregated with the black fans in the balcony and white fans down below. He is adamantly against this as he has already played sold out integrated shows in the past. “How does it look, me an international representative of black American culture, but my people stuck in the balcony at my own shows here at home?”. He and the other artists on the bill agree to boycott until the seating arrangements are changed. The venue’s management does not budge but the other artists do, leaving Sam alone with Barbara backstage. They watch news coverage on TV of the aftermath of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas. Sam paces the room and voices his discontent with the current place of his career. He is successful, sure, but his songs feel so safe. Like he has to be as milquetoast as possible to appeal to white and black audiences alike. He admires the protest songs from the likes of Bob Dylan and thinks he should be out there himself.

Sam and Barbara return to L.A. and Sam just wants to relax after a stressful tour. He takes a break from writing and recording in favor of playing with his three children. One night, as he sits down to watch a boxing match featuring Cassius Clay, his phone is ringing off the hook. Barbara goes to answer but Sam tells her not to. He says that you never know who might be listening. She asks why the government would care about an entertainer who sings upbeat love songs. He says it’s because everyone listens to those love songs, and so he is one of the most visible black men in the country. There isn’t much more dangerous to the FBI than a black man with a voice.

A few days later, Sam is shaken awake from a midday nap by screams from Barbara. He stumbles outside to find that their 1-year-old son Vincent had wandered outside and fell into the swimming pool. Sam dives into the pool to retrieve him but it is too late. Sam’s parents and siblings come to Los Angeles to be with Sam in this time of need. Charles oversees the service for Vincent but Sam and Barbara break down midway through. Charles stops his sermon to come down and comfort his son. He reminds Sam that everyone has a reason to be here, even if their time is brief.

In 1964, Sam gets to work on a protest song of his own: ‘A Change is Gonna Come,’ incorporating some of his own experiences into the lyrics. Lou, now a successful recording artist himself, visits the studio to hear Sam performing the song. He gets goosebumps hearing Sam’s pain through song but comments afterwards that it sounds like death. Sam agrees but responds that perhaps it is the symbolic death of the old him and the start of a new phase of his career. Allen and the record label are very happy with what they hear but warn that radio producers will probably want the line “I go to the movies and I go downtown/But somebody keeps telling me, don’t hang around” cut to avoid potential controversy. This annoys Sam as he thought that he had total creative control over his music. He revisits the contract he signed with Allen and finds something hidden in the fine print: Allen listed himself as owner of Tracy Ltd., essentially giving him ownership of Sam’s songs and making Sam his employee. Sam is irate and confronts Allen about this. Allen says that he is simply looking out for what is best for Sam from the parasitic record labels. Sam says that it seems Allen is the parasitic one here.

Fuming from the encounter with Allen, Sam goes out for drinks at a high-end restaurant laced with A-list celebrities to let off steam. He is more boisterous than usual, going to the bar and flaunting around $5,000 that he earned from a recent appearance. He catches the attention of a young woman who introduces herself as Elisa (Eva Noblezada). They flirt a bit and Sam asks if she’d like to go to a nearby club. She agrees and they head to a club called P.J.’s but the bouncer informs them that the club is about to close. He watches as the couple return to Sam’s car, where they share a kiss.

The bouncer sits in a police officer’s office as he finishes providing his statement. The officer thanks him and says it appears that he is the last person to see Sam and Elisa together before they went to the Hacienda Hotel that night.

Elisa sits in the same station and recounts her story to an officer. After P.J.’s, she requested that Sam take her home. He insisted that they stop somewhere to have sex. He passes on several hotels before deciding upon the Hacienda, which advertises a $3/hour rate for short-term visitors. The lady at the front desk, Bertha (Loretta Devine), finds him vaguely familiar but he signs under a pseudonym and lists Elisa as his wife so it never clicks for Bertha. In the hotel room, Sam starts to undress but Elisa says that she does not want to have sex. He doesn’t take no for an answer and begins to take her clothes off and goes to use the restroom before they have sex. Elisa uses this as opportunity to flee, picking up her clothes on the way out and racing to a nearby phone booth out of sight of the hotel. Back in the station, she says that this is when she made the 911 call to the police.

The film transitions to Bertha in the station, recalling the events for herself that night. She says that she was in her office when Sam banging on the front door. He demands to know where the girl is. Bertha says she does not know what he is talking about. This angers him and he bursts in, totally naked except for a jacket and one shoe. He grabs ahold of her and asks again where the girl is with his clothes. A tussle ensues and Bertha is able to reach her desk, where she receives a gun. She shoots Sam once in the chest and he falls to his knees. “Lady, you shot me,” he whispers as he falls face first to the ground.

At Sam’s funeral, the crowd of thousands pass through to see Sam’s casket, including celebrities like Cassius Clay and Etta James. Afterwards, a distraught Barbara takes the kids to Sam’s childhood home to stay with his parents for a while. In a private conversation with Charles a few weeks later, Barbara reveals to him that she hired a private investigator to look into the death after it was ruled a justifiable homicide as she doesn’t trust the police. He found multiple holes in Elisa’s story and the investigation lackluster. When the police first arrived on the scene, it was seen as just another night in El Segundo as a dead black man was nothing new. The gun registered to Bertha doesn’t match the type of bullett Sam was shot with. His body seems more badly beaten than the supposed events would indicate. His pants - and the $5,000 in them - were never recovered. And to top things off, Elisa Boyer was arrested for prostitution just a month after the incident and the Hacienda was a well-known spot for prostitutes to meet their clients.

But since there are only two witnesses and they passed polygraph tests, there is nothing they can do to challenge the police’s version of the events. Sam isn’t here to tell his side of the story. Barbara ends by saying that the amount of people at the funeral today was a testament to the true man that Sam was. Charles smiles and says “his reason for being here”.

‘A Change is Gonna Come’ is released a month later to widespread acclaim and has since been regarded as an anthem for the civil rights moment. Barbara would soon thereafter marry Bobby Womack, a fellow singer and friend of Sam’s. Elisa Boyer would later be arrested 1979 in second-degree murder of her husband. Allen Klein retained total control over Cooke’s catalog and Cooke’s family never received royalties for the songs. But Sam Cooke’s soul lives on through his voice, which has carried on for generations since.