Review: The Six Triple Eight – Tyler Perry’s latest is burdened by melodrama

Nuance gets lost in the mail as overblown dialogue and heavy-handed drama reduces African-American women war heroes to one-dimensional characters.

Featured image by Bob Mahoney / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of Netflix.

In February 1945, the ocean liner Île de France cut through a gauntlet of German U-boats towards Glasgow. Onboard were the 855 women of the “Six Triple Eight”, the only primarily-black US Women’s Army Corps to be sent to Europe. Led by Major Charity Adams, they were tasked with processing a backlog of 17 million letters to and from US servicemen in six months.

6888th women march on an airfield with a propeller airliner in the background.
Women of the 6888th on the march.
Photo: Laura Radford / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of Netflix

African-American director Tyler Perry was inspired to create a film about the 6888th after reading about them in 2019. He wanted to tell a story of triumph over racism and sexism, and the determination to fulfill a vital task for morale in the US Armed Forces. 

Perry pushes too hard to achieve this goal. Kerry Washington’s rendering of the indefatigable Major Adams, rallying her women against a racist conspiracy to discredit the 6888th, should be inspiring and fascinating. Instead, it is turgid and overshadows the better performances from actors lower on the cast. In one of her countless, poorly written monologues, Washington stands atop a staggering pile of mailbags to tell her troops: “They did not send us because they thought we could do it. We are here because they are sure we cannot.” 

A women in military uniform stands in front of piles of mail bags.
Washington as Major Adams stands in front of the daunting mail bags holding the backlog.
Photo: Laura Radford / Perry Well Films 2 / Courtesy of Netflix

The Six Triple Eight draws from intriguing subject matter to tell the story of women who deserve to be remembered. Yet, it is distorted by cliché and caricature that extends beyond Major Adams.  Dean Norris is the archetypally racist General Halt and Shanice Shantay is Johnnie Mae, an eccentric and imprudent country bumpkin. Perhaps Perry’s most apparent lack of subtlety lies with Lena Derriecott (Ebony Obsidian). The recruit, heartbroken by losing her boyfriend, is initially an embarrassment to her unit but inevitably comes good.