'The Six Triple Eight' review: Kerry Washington shines in Tyler Perry's epic WW II drama

WHAT IT'S ABOUT The story of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion gets a cinematic treatment from writer-director Tyler Perry. "The Six Triple Eight" follows the World War II unit, comprised entirely of Black women, that arrived in the United Kingdom in 1945 with the task of sorting the enormous backlog of mail being sent between Europe and the U.S. homefront.

The picture's headlined by Kerry Washington as Maj. Charity Adams, the battalion's leader and the first African American officer in the Women's Army Corps. Other ensemble members include Ebony Obsidian as Lena, an enlistee who suffered a recent heartbreak, Milauna Jackson as Adams' second-in-command, Capt. Noel Campbell, and Dean Norris as a general who works to undermine the unit at every possible step.

Appearing in smaller parts, but notable nonetheless, are Susan Sarandon as Eleanor Roosevelt, Sam Waterston as Franklin Roosevelt and Oprah Winfrey as Mary McLeod Bethune, the famed educator and activist.

MY SAY There's no doubting the importance of this story or the fact that its telling seems terribly overdue. And there's no surprise that Perry, the studio mogul and cultural force, became the person who ensured that it happened.

But it was not clear that Perry the filmmaker would be up this. The Madea creator specializes in smaller-scale, present-day comedies and dramatic thrillers.

So it is a wonderful revelation to discover that "The Six Triple Eight" marks an evolution for its maker. Perry crafts an old-fashioned Hollywood war epic, complete with an opening battle scene, big inspirational speeches, a swelling score and sentimental touches that mostly stay on the right side of the excessive.

Along the way, the filmmaker scores several noteworthy wins: Start with casting the always terrific Washington. The actor fills her character with the weight of a fundamental burden: navigating the reality that she and her soldiers must work extra hard, extra long and extra well to prove themselves to a scornful military establishment.

Perry complements this with a sense of simmering outrage, with scenes that convey the magnitude of the obstacles placed in the unit's way. These range from everyday indignities — white soldiers who refuse to salute, or casually hurl racial slurs — to institutional roadblocks including dangerously inadequate housing in England and other actions from on high geared toward undermining the mission.

Sure, there are several touches that flop, including scenes in which Lena is visited by the source of her sadness: the ghost of the man she loved, who died earlier in the war. The big White House scene shared by Sarandon, Winfrey and Waterston feels like famous people playing dress-up.

But none of that detracts from the fierce urgency at the heart of the movie, with its commitment to paying tribute to these unheralded heroes, whose work helped heal an anxious nation, and its maker's willingness to spare no expense in giving that story the canvas it deserves.

BOTTOM LINE A compelling war movie that also stands as a milestone in Perry's filmmaking career.