André Holland makes quick thinking and careful listening worth watching. We value his restraint, and High Flying Bird gives it a particularly good use: a man whose livelihood depends on staying ahead of the conversation.
Fi1m perspective
In High Flying Bird (2019), André Holland's sports agent Ray Burke has his corporate card declined while buying lunch for a rookie client. The league is in a lockout, and the agency has stopped paying for lunches. Ray talks his way through it without raising his voice. We warmed to him at once because Holland makes an embarrassing setback look manageable. His delivery suggests a man who has already worked out the next few answers, and that is an absorbing thing to watch.
Steven Soderbergh had already given him a demanding professional to play in The Knick (2014–2015): Dr Algernon Edwards, whose ambition meets institutional resistance. In Ava DuVernay's Selma (2014), he plays Andrew Young; our admiration for that film comes with a reservation about exchanges that sound too prepared. Wider recognition came with Kevin in Barry Jenkins's Moonlight (2016), which gave his understated acting a more intimate setting. He is particularly good at suggesting that a man is choosing his next words carefully.
High Flying Bird gives that care a faster pace. Tarell Alvin McCraney writes conversations with a second negotiation underneath, and Holland delivers them as if waiting impatiently for everyone else to catch up. Soderbergh directs, shoots on a phone and edits, keeping the talk to a brisk ninety minutes. We recommend the film for that verbal agility, though it is a little cold and stops a scene early. Holland's composure makes Ray persuasive, but it cannot make the abrupt finish satisfying.
Holland also helped conceive High Flying Bird and served as executive producer; he had a hand in creating the sort of substantial part he suits. His subsequent work includes leading roles in Exhibiting Forgiveness (2024) and The Actor (2025). We would like to see more scripts put that composure under pressure, giving him people who can interrupt his thinking as well as follow it. Start with Ray Burke if an evening of negotiation sounds agreeable; there is little basketball to distract from it.
Biography
André Holland is an American actor. He was born on 28 December 1979 in Bessemer, Alabama, and trained at Florida State University and New York University, where he received an MFA in 2006.
Holland is known for his role as Kevin in the 2016 film Moonlight, Andrew Young in Selma (2014), and Wendell Smith in 42 (2013). On television he has appeared in The Knick (2014–2015) as Dr. Algernon Edwards, American Horror Story: Roanoke (2016) as Matt Miller, and Castle Rock (2018) as Henry Deaver. He played Ray Burke in the 2019 film High Flying Bird and has performed in stage productions including August Wilson’s Jitney on Broadway in 2017.
