Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
The Good Fight is a remarkable achievement on a lot of levels. As a continuation of The Good Wife universe by throwing a few key characters in with a bunch of new ones. As a post-Hillary reflection on life after November 8. As a resumption of The Good Wife‘s open-door casting policy when it comes to Broadway’s finest. Easily the best thing about The Good Fight is its cast, which combines celebrated veterans like Christine Baranski with exciting young talent like Cush Jumbo and Rose Leslie with underserved performers like Erica Tazel with legends walking among us like Bernadette Peters. And it puts an actor like Delroy Lindo, who as it turns out is one of our best and most charismatic of performers, into the kind of role he deserves.
In effect, Lindo’s Adrian Boseman is to The Good Fight what Diane Lockhart herself was to The Good Wife. He’s the guy in charge of the firm that gives Diane a break when she falls on hard times. Before that happens, he’s introduced in the pilot as the lead attorney in a police-brutality case against the city of Chicago. From the first moment he’s on screen, Lindo has completely captivated the room with his presence, his charm, and that glint in his eye that you see in so many of his performances. You can see how this guy would win over a jury.
Later, once Diane has joined Boseman’s firm, Lindo gets to play more than just the showman side of this lawyer. He’s a law partner, a shrewd operator, an idealist with a vision for a majority-black law firm that will take on injustice within the system. He’s the rock that Diane will build her new house on. And for the audience, he’s a godsend in every scene. It’s a great reminder of what a compelling, likeable actor he is, and has been for years. And it immediately makes you want to revisit the performances that made you fall in love with him as an actor in the first place. You also realize that this is an actor who should be getting WAY more interesting work than Hollywood has afforded him, especially in the last 5-10 years.
'Malcolm X' (1992)
After making a name for himself on the Broadway stage (including a Tony nomination for August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone), Lindo’s first big break in the movies came when Spike Lee cast him as the gangster West Indian Archie in the early scenes of Malcolm X. The movie was a massive critical hit, nearly won Denzel Washington an Oscar, and got Lindo recognized by critics groups like the National Society of Film Critics, which placed him third on their Supporting Actor ballot that year.
'Crooklyn' (1994)
After the success of Malcolm X, Spike Lee again cast Lindo, this time as the lead — opposite Alfre Woodard — in his semi-autobiographical family dramedy Crooklyn. This time playing a much different character, Lindo still had that huge screen presence, only this time it was as a good, if flawed, dad.
'Clockers' (1995)
Lindo’s third Spike Lee film in four years was this crime drama co-starring Harvey Keitel, John Turturro, and Mekhi Pfifer. Lindo played a drug kingpin in this hard-boiled story of cops investigating a homicide. Once again, when Lee needed a figure to project ultimate authority, he accepted no substitute and turned to Lindo.
'Get Shorty' (1995)
In the wake of Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino-adjacent movies were all the rage. So John Travolta’s Fiction follow-up, the Elmore Leonard adaptation Get Shorty, ended up being a huge hit. Looking back on it now, the film’s all-star cast is a bit of a bummer, as its cast is either retired (Gene Hackman), not working nearly enough (Rene Russo; Bette Midler), or deceased (Dennis Farina; James Galdolfini). Lindo plays another drug dealer in this one, though this time he’s a drug dealer with dreams of being in the movies. He’s the money behind the big gangsters-making-movies plot, so once again, he’s the big authority figure. And once again, the National Society of Film Critics made him second-runner-up on their Supporting Actor list.
'Ransom' (1996)
This one’s rather infuriating. After the Get Shorty breakthrough, Lindo got another big role in a HUGE box-office success, the Mel Gibson “GIVE ME BACK MY SON!” thriller, Ransom. And if you thought Lindo was going to be playing a drug kingpin who kidnaps the kid? Psych! Nope, Ransom marks the beginning of the stretch of his career where Lindo plays a lot of cops. Like, a LOT of cops. Unfortunately, Ransom isn’t available to stream anywhere WHICH IS INSANE. Fix it, internet.
'A Life Less Ordinary' (1997)
For a while there, Lindo was getting offered some truly interesting, offbeat roles. Like in this Danny Boyle film starring Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz, which was by all measures a flop, but which let Lindo and Holly Hunter co-star as a pair of guardian angels. Though it is notable, especially at this stage of Lindo’s career, that Boyle’s version of Heaven is styled very much like a police department.
'The Cider House Rules' (1999)
You know how sometimes actors get one role where they play a real creep, and they play that character so well that it takes a while before you can look at them again without getting unsettled? Like how after Dolores Claiborne you couldn’t look at David Strathairn for a while? That’s sort of what Lindo had to deal with after The Cider House Rules, where he played a seemingly benevolent apple-picker who ended up being the father of his daughter’s baby. Yeesh. On the bright side, Lindo got to be in a Best Picture nominee and SAG-nominated as part of the film’s ensemble.
'Gone in 60 Seconds' (2000)
Another cop role, this time playing opposite Nicolas Cage and Angelina Jolie in this ridiculous (but very watchable) car-heist movie.
'The Core' (2003)
The Core is an insane, dumb, hammy, ridiculous movie, and it is 100% pure movie pleasure. The premise is that the Earth’s core has stopped spinning, so this team of scientists have to drill down to the center of the Earth to re-ignite it. Lindo gets to play a crazy scientists who helps our heroes (Hilary Swank and Aaron Eckhart, of course) outfit their ship.
'Kidnapped' (2006)
Staying on the cop tip — and actually taking more than a few cues from his Ransom role — Lindo played an FBI agent (named LATIMER KING, of all fantastic things) in charge of tracking down kidnapped children in this one-season-wonder NBC series that was so much better than the fate it received. The all-star cast (including Timothy Hutton, Jeremy Sisto, Dane Delaney, Carmen Ejogo, Audra McDonald) was great, and the twists were pretty well-executed. Justice for Kidnapped, for real.
'The Chicago Code' (2011)
Ever since The Shield, TV producer Sawn Ryan has been the patron saint of Cop TV For Discerning (/Snobby) TV Viewers (/Critics). And ever since Terriers, Shawn Ryan has been the patron saint of TV shows cancelled too soon. Both of those streams converged in The Chicago Code, the one-season FOX drama that starred Jason Clarke, Jennifer Beals, and as a corrupt Chicago politician who the cops want to take down, Delroy Lindo. Like Kidnapped, this one didn’t get the appreciation it deserved. Here’s hoping The Good Fight gets Delroy Lindo the right amount of praise and longevity.
