While The United States vs. Billie Holiday is a heartfelt ode to a singular talent, it comes across as a bit too assured of its own merits and the dramatic heft of its subject to be bothered to simply tell the compelling story ...

A failure that often shows the promise of a biting satire of the election process, but far too often finds itself lost in a morass of self-aware social critiques and overt political diatribes.