Not quite a brand new "Cadillac".
Written: Dec 08 '08 (Updated Dec 08 '08)
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Entertaining, the music.
Cons: Tries to cram too much in.
The Bottom Line: Oh Bottom Line. Why can't you just get lost?
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| jeff_wilder78's Full Review: Cadillac Records |
The biggest problem with Cadillac Records is that it isn't long enough.
That might seem like an odd complaint to level, considering that the movie is nearly 2 hours long and encompasses a lot in that running time. But the movie tries to cram 3 decades worth of music history into those 2 hours and as a result, ends up simultaneously overstuffed and underfilling.
As most people reading this will be aware, Cadillac Records is a drama (not a straight musical like Dreamgirls, more of a bio-pic along the lines of Ray and countless other ones) about the founding of Chess Records and the impact it had on American music. Specifically, the way it introduced the blues to listeners, primarily white ones, who had never heard it before and opened the door for rock and roll. There were a lot of artists involved in that and writer-director Darnell Martin manages to include the bulk of the truly essentialones. The main focus is on Muddy Waters, with additional time given to Chuck Berry, Etta James and Howlin Wolf. However, other essential artists from that era are either shown only briefly (Willie Dixon) or completely omitted (Bo Diddley).
The movie begins in 1941, with Muddy (Jeffrey Wright) working in the fields as a sharecropper, while Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) wants to get financially secure so he can secure the blessing of his girlfriend's father. He runs a club where many of the "race" (read: black) artists perform at. One of these artists is Muddy. When the club burns down, Chess sets out to start a record label to sell those artists work.
From there. we proceed to witness Chess as it begins, establishes itself and then heads for a downfall.
The movie spans the period from 1941 to the late 60s, when Leonard Chess (his brother Phil is also conveniently omitted from the story) dies of a heart attack. It shows Muddy, Wolf and Willie Dixon introducing the blues to the world. It shows Chuck Berry inventing rock and roll. It shows how Leonard Chess may have been guilty of cheating his artists out of certain royalties. It shows Muddy's womanizing in a manner that is heartbreaking. It shows Etta James' relationship with Chess, both professionally and personally.
The movie tells a lot of the story, so we get a basic idea of how the Chess gang revolutionized modern music. But there are certain parts we want to know more of. Why is Bo Diddley left out completely? Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters and Etta James deserve their own movies. Why did Martin totally omit Phil Chess? And please, more on the relationship between Chess and Etta James.
The acting is pretty good for the most part. Jeffrey Wright makes the biggest impression as Muddy Waters. He shows off all sides of the man. While not quite on a par with Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles, Wright succeeds quite admirably. Adrien Brody plays Chess as a flawed man with good intentions and a certain level of heart. Although he doesn't get as much screen time as the other participants, when he's on he acquits himself well. Mos Def is decent as Chuck Berry. But we don't get to see enough of Chuck. Then again, the fault for that lies primarily with Martin. Columbus Short is good as Little Walter.
I'm torn on how I feel about Beyonce's performance as Etta James. On the acting side she does fairly well, although I think she really needs to stretch in her next role and take a non-singing part to really show off her acting talent. In the singing department however, she comes up short. Not that the lovely Ms. Knowles cannot sing. But her sweet voice does not work well on Etta James' gritty bluesy numbers. Martin would've been better off casting Beyonce's Dreamgirls co-star Jennifer Hudson as Etta James. She could've pulled off both the acting and singing quite well.
All that being said, I must point out that when Cadillac Records works, it works well. It tells its story in an interesting (if not totally historically accurate manner). If it inspires more people to go back and check out the Chess Records artists, then more power to it. It may not be the masterpiece Chess Records movie. But I'd rather a good Chess Records movie be made than the masterpiece never be made. So I give Cadillac Records a marginal recommendation along with the added strong recommendation of stopping by your local record store afterwards and buying some albums by the aforementioned artists.
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Date Movie
Viewing Method: Other
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Script
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Member: Jeff Wilder
Location: Sunrise Florida USA
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