The Six Triple Eight (2024) Review: Kerry Washington’s Scene-Stealing Performance Boosts Tyler Perry’s Cumbersome But Inspiring War Drama

Not a fan of Tyler Perry’s works with movies like Alex Cross and the recent Divorce in the Black terribly missed the mark and now, he tries his hand at the war genre for the first time in The Six Triple Eight. The title in question refers to the inspiring true story of the all-Black and all-female 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion during World War II led by Kerry Washington’s Major Charity Adams.

The Django Unchained and TV’s Scandal star steals the show here from the moment she appears on the screen, even though you have to wait until around the 25-minute mark for her to show up. Washington’s steely, no-nonsense performance is easily one of her best acting since her feature film debut in Our Song.

Before that, Perry’s adapted screenplay, based on Kevin M. Hymel’s 2019 WWII History magazine article “Fighting a Two-Front War,” focuses on Lena Derricott King (Ebony Obsidian), who decided to join the Women’s Army Corps after her white fiancé Abram David (Gregg Sulkin), who promised to marry her once he’s back from his duty as a fighter pilot, died in the battle.

Upon joining the boot camp for the 6888th battalion, she struggles to keep up with the rigorous training under the strict command of Major Charity Adams. But Lena refuses to give up with visions of Abram’s ghost constantly appearing to motivate her.

The story also focuses on a subplot involving US First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt (Susan Sarandon, who gives quite an impression in her solid cameo appearance) and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune (Oprah Winfrey) learning about a huge backlog of undelivered mail. The latter soon becomes a task for Major Charity Adams and her soldiers to help sort out millions of mail within a limited time frame.

Now, who could have thought a true story about the 6888th battalion overcoming an impossible mission of solving the undelivered mail problem turns out to be such an absorbing storytelling hook? Familiar themes like persistence and a can-do attitude elevate the feel-good factor in the movie, particularly with Washington’s Major Charity Adams’ frequent morale-boosting stance inspiring her hardworking soldiers.

The movie also deals with racism and injustice, evidently in the introduction of a prejudiced General Halt (Dean Norris), who often looks down on the 6888th battalion and anticipates Major Charity Adams and her troop will fail the mission. Apart from Washington’s scene-stealing performance, The Six Triple Eight equally benefits from a fine ensemble with Obsidian delivering a few standout moments. One of them, of course, revolves around Obsidian’s Lena had enough of her fellow troop for disrespecting the dead soldiers’ dog tags, prompting her to voice out her disdain.

As much as I admire Obsidian’s acting, the movie somehow falters whenever the story shifts focus to the half-baked romance moments between her and Private Hugh Bell (Jay Reeves). Their love story is sloppily written as it lacks substantial development, let alone chemistry between these two characters. The same also goes for the underwritten romance between Lena and Sulkin’s Abram David in the earlier scenes of the movie

As for Perry, his assured direction especially the movie begins focusing on Major Charity Adams along with the subsequent mail-sorting mission contains enough worthwhile moments to keep me mostly invested throughout its 127-minute running time. He also knows how to tug one’s heartstrings, notably an affecting moment where painstakingly sorted mail was successfully dispersed to the soldiers’ family members. The movie concludes with poignant archival photos, clips and footage including a tribute from Michelle Obama along with the real-life Lena in her old age.

The Six Triple Eight is currently streaming on Netflix.