The Big Cigar

Based on Joshuah Bearman’s titular Playboy article, The Big Cigar is a countercultural crime caper with a plot plucked straight from a Hollywood movie. Except, this is a true story, based on the unlikely partnership between Black Panther founder Huey P Newton (André Holland) and Hollywood film producer Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola). 

Such an alliance may seem far-fetched, but contradiction is central to Newton’s understanding of the world. Having studied the penal code meticulously to protect himself and his community, he attempts to use his erudition to reason with racist police officers. But the police – and faux hippies hired to tap Newton’s calls – are watching his every move, resulting in a nationwide manhunt when he’s accused of murdering a sex worker.

Holland is an enigmatic lead, and he and Nivola have an infectious chemistry as their respective onscreen counterparts navigate the other’s disparate world. Socially conscious Schneider, a pioneer of anti-establishment cinema rebelling against his McCarthyist father, grows fascinated by Newton’s grassroots approach to activism. Accordingly, he offers his financial and moral support to the Black Panthers. It’s here that Newton’s fascination with contradiction is really accentuated, with Schneider’s star-studded cocaine parties at his mansion inharmonious with his affinity for Newton’s revolutionary politics. When Newton ponders whether Schneider’s activism is merely performative, the producer comes up with a grand plan, staging a fake movie production to help his comrade escape to exile in Cuba.

With slick and proficient direction, Don Cheadle, who also serves as executive producer, effectively captures the idealistic spirit of the countercultural milieu. But aspects of the composition feel off. An overt attempt at emulating quintessentially 70s-style, split-screen editing techniques, for instance, distracts from the compelling subject matter. Likewise, Newton’s politics are presented merely in abstract terms, the show’s creators never pondering the objectives of his revolutionary socialism for any extended period of time (rather, there are brief glimpses into his Free Breakfast for Children initiative with little context). The same could be said for Schneider, who is presented as something of a champagne socialist when in reality he was a man who enraged Hollywood conservatives with his fervent objections to the Vietnam War and American imperialism.

Nevertheless, The Big Cigar, rather than being an accurate biopic of a revolutionary icon, is instead a passion project for the period of radical renegades, both in grassroots activism and American cinema.

Antonia Georgiou

The Big Cigar is released on Apple TV+ on 17^th May 2024.

Watch the trailer for The Big Cigar here: