'The Big Cigar' Is Captivating — But Struggles To Reconcile Man And Legend

After being charged with killing a 17-year-old sex worker, legend has it that Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton, who denied the charge , fled to Cuba in 1974 with the help of renowned white filmmakers who pretended to be producing a movie starring him.

That’s a story so bizarrely true that it’s almost comical to learn that the only online proof of its actual details can be found in Joshuah Bearman’s Playboy magazine article that’s now hidden behind a paywall with the low, low price of $99 . This only creates more intrigue about said story.

And more opportunity to, let’s just say, massage the facts around it.

That’s where Apple TV+’s “The Big Cigar,” from showrunner Janine Sherman Barrois, comes in. The engrossing new series adaptation recounts the unbelievable magazine story through six slickly-paced episodes in the tone of a great heist tale. It’s a helluva way to mine new material from Newton’s otherwise recognizable name and story.

Even beyond the countless articles that have been written about both the BPP co-founder and the party itself leading up to and following Newton’s murder at age 47 in 1989, there’s been a few movies that detail his life and work. Those include documentaries such as 1971’s “Huey P. Newton: Prelude to a Revolution” and 2001’s “A Huey P. Newton Story.”

But “The Big Cigar,” named after the faux movie title, is a rare screen treatment that Hollywoodifies his story. That is to say, it sprinkles some Tinseltown fairy dust on it; hikes up the suspense, attaches starry names to it (including André Holland as Newton and Don Cheadle as a director); a funky ’70s soundtrack; and makes it move as quickly as one of its own car chases.

If you’re familiar with Barrois’ work on “Claws,”