REVIEW: MACKIE LEADS A LITTLE-KNOWN STORY IN ‘THE BANKER’
“The Banker ” is an odd title for this film. It has
the effect of underselling a fascinating story
about a black business savant that was inspired
by real events. In the 1950s and early 1960s,
Bernard Garrett (Anthony Mackie) became a real
estate mogul in Los Angeles and (eventually)
the owner of a bank in his Texas hometown at
a time when all the cards were stacked against
him. At the very least, “The Banker” doesn’t
seem like the best way to describe Bernard,
his accomplishments or even reflect what
it’s is about: the de facto and legal ways that
African American were excluded from fairly
participating in real estate and business.