In civilian life, businesses refer to moving stuff around as being a “matter of logistics,” ensuring that vital components, messages, or any other form of engagement runs smoothly and efficiently. In military circles, this movement of goods and supplies from the bases to the front is known as lines of communication, prioritizing the notion that this word implies interconnection and transmission from one sector to another. This supply chain is vital for any military engagement, transporting everything required for soldiers to fight effectively.
During the Second World War, one aspect of this line of communication that more overtly relates to this jargon was a breakdown in the mail system. Before electronic communication made the interconnection between the homefront and the front line almost instantaneous, posted letters were the main way of ensuring those back home were aware of their loved ones’ situation. At the same time, the ever-vital and decidedly complex effect that morale has on troops was shaped tremendously by these epistolic missives, thus making their months-long delay in delivery far more central to potential victory as may first be assumed.
It’s in this context that, with The Six Triple Eight, Tyler Perry has crafted a loving homage to those brave soldiers who took on what at first blush was a trivial task in the grand scheme of the War’s multifaceted deployment. In a sea of wartime cinema, his subject is both unique and in many ways profoundly beneficial to illuminate this corner of the war effort in ways respectful to those who served, but a reminder that’s as timely as ever that the very complexion of America’s involvement in the European theater was far broader than the John Wayne-like image of the G.I. and his platoon of gritty fighting men.
Tyler Perry Knows His Audience With ‘The Six Triple Eight’

Tyler Perry has made a career out of immensely successful and equally accessible films, unafraid to eschew experimentation in favor of clarity and emotional engagement. His latest is no grand swing away from what’s worked for him in the past, as he’s able to elicit fine performances from a wide range of A-level performers in a film that never strays far from expectations. While narratively and even visually, things seem entirely straightforward and aimed at the most general of generalist audiences, sometimes the clearest path forward is the best way, and in this case, the linearized mode of storytelling benefits through the mining of this otherwise near-forgotten aspect of American history.
The story begins by watching an American soldier walking down a trench, set along with his comrades to go over the top and engage the enemy. As bullets fly and shells land, the soldier runs reluctantly towards danger, only for a plane to crash onto the battlefield. Pulling the bloodied pilot from the wreckage, he checks in vain for a pulse, pulls out a mangled letter from the inside of the flight jacket, and marches off to continue the fight. Following the action, we see the letter placed in a bag, which in turn is unceremoniously dumped on a hanger among hundreds of other undeliverables, as rich a visual metaphor for a broken system of war stretched thin over many fronts as any.
The film shifts focus to Lena Derriecott King (Ebony Obsidian from If Beale Street Could Talk), a young African American girl with a broad smile and a quick wit. Her playful friendship with Abram (Greg Sulkin), the son of a prominent Jewish family, leads to some consternation both with her classmates and her own family. As he is set to go off to war, he expresses deeper affection for her, stealing a kiss and donning a promissory ring on her finger.
A Doomed Love Story Takes Flight

We soon learn that Abram is the doomed pilot, and his death prompts King to join the army herself. Stationed under the command of a brilliant yet tough officer, Major Charity Adams (Kerry Washington), she struggles to live up to the vagaries of training, even as her emotional drive to continue her departed’s patriotic mission fuels her. Segregated with her fellow black soldiers from around the country, the thought is that the furthest they’d get in the war effort would be a base in Georgia.
Meanwhile, a woman waits in the rain to try and deliver a message to Eleanor Roosevelt (played by an almost unrecognizable Susan Sarandon) about how she has heard nothing from her two sons and the need for mail delivery to be prioritized. In a meeting with her husband the President (Sam Waterson), the remarkable educator and activist Mary Jane McLeod Bethune (Oprah Winfrey, who also serves as one of the producers), and a surly, redneck General with the fitting obstructionist name Halt (Dean Norris), a plan is made to ship the battalion of black women to Europe to tame the chaos and perform the nearly impossible task of making the communications flow.

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In Europe, the task is made all the more harrowing, forced to fend off vermin and V-series German Rockets while sorting through innumerable letters and half-destroyed packages. The deciphering of the addressee is but one logistical nightmare, such that a myriad of other modes of connecting to the right recipient becomes the major pull for this group of soldiers. From matching the color of paper from a wrapped gift to the smell of perfume from a particular region, the women tackle their mission with a tenacity and even bravery that mirrors those more conventionally considered to be in the thick of the action.
While Halt’s brutishness and the actions of other individuals are so two-dimensional as to verge on the cliché, the success of the film relies on the two-factor element of committed performances by the rich cast and the genuine novelty of this particular focus. While echoes to the likes of Hidden Figures may easily come to mind, or even George Lucas’ vastly underappreciated production Red Tails which was capably helmed by Anthony Hemingway, Perry manages to make the story both an uplifting homage to the past, but also a firm reminder that the history of this massive engagement is far more rich and complex than the more narrow vision that served as fact for so many decades.
‘The Six Triple Eight’ Takes Liberties With the Facts, but Is Still Affecting

Image via Netflix

Washington portrays her character with the tension of a clenched fist, forced to stomach inequities and insults under the guise of a command chain only to have the same mode of respect refused to her reciprocally. While her eventual outburst feels far more for the cathartic benefit of the audience than to adhere to what really transpired, such pedantry is pushed aside when simply considering this is a movie, not a memoir.
Perry deftly juggled these various characters, never allowing things to become convoluted or incoherent. This results in the painting of these characters in broad strokes rather than finer lines, the benefit being never getting lost along the way given the many storylines that intersect. Perry is an expert at crafting entertainment, yet here he again proves the doubters wrong, bringing forth a more than competent war picture that presents the compelling story of these women in a way that will be seen by wide audiences. This is Perry’s greatest asset, knowing exactly how to generate interest in even a superficially minor story such as this and wrapping it up with the pageantry that gives it the scope of a feature film.
The Six Triple Eight won’t make many best-of lists and its fine cast is unlikely to be the toast of Hollywood this awards season (save for an inevitable losing Oscar nomination for Diane Warren’s treacly yet appropriately uplifting end credit song ably sung by H.E.R.). Above all, this movie provides a wonderful commemoration of the women of the 6888th. Add in the scene-chewing cameos by a couple of Oscar winners, as well as the emotionally rich if sometimes arch performances from the rest of the ensemble and the epic sweep of the setting itself, and even the most jaded may be swayed by Perry’s latest demonstration of his skills at making movies that work simply but that also simply work.
The Six Triple Eight is now available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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The Six Triple Eight

With The Six Triple Eight, Tyler Perry has crafted a loving homage to those brave soldiers who took on what seemed like a trivial task in the grand scheme of the War’s multifaceted deployment.

Pros

Tyler Perry knows his audience.
Fine performances from the ensemble cast.
A story of WW2 that’s of interest to those around the globe.

Cons

Occasionally burdened by its clichéd elements.

Watch on Netflix