VIDEO: Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie Take on Racial Discrimination in ‘The Banker’ Trailer
Nicholas Hoult, Nia Long, and Jessie T. Usher co-star in the 1950s-set drama
November 5, 2019“Avengers” heroes Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie battle a different kind of injustice in the official trailer for “The Banker,” an upcoming film about the real-life African American businessmen who bent the rules to become trailblazers in the banking and real estate industries in the 1950s.
The clip (above) begins as Bernard Garrett (Mackie) approaches Joe Morris (Jackson) with a bold business proposition to buy a bank. He’s desperate to get into the money lending business to help African American families become homeowners.
But Morris envisions a few problems. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I not wake up black this morning? Because I’m pretty sure I did. Yup, still black,” the Oscar-nominated Stern Show guest’s character says.
Borrowing a page from “Trading Places” and perhaps even “BlacKkKlansman,” the duo devises a more devilish plan: they’ll train a working-class white guy (Nicholas Hoult) in the art of banking (and golf) so he can pose as a financier and get them their banks.
Before long, however, everyone involved is being investigated by the F.B.I. “The whole country’s talking about how two negroes managed to buy two banks full of white folks money and loan it to other negroes,” Jackson says.
Directed by George Nolfi (“The Adjustment Bureau”), “The Banker” also stars Nia Long, Jessie T. Usher, and Colm Meaney.
“The Banker” arrives Dec. 6 in theaters before opening up shop on Apple TV+ in January.