| Overall Grade: |
B+ |
|
| Story: |
C+ |
|
|
| Acting: |
B+ |
|
|
| Direction: |
B+ |
|
|
| Visuals: |
B |
|
|
You Won't Be Upset...
by Wouldinya (movies profile)
Dec 6, 2008
18
of
25 people found this review helpful
...if you spend a little money watching this one. It's slightly better than mediocre. In modern Hollywood, that's a blessing, considering 99% of the movies Hollywood makes these days suck beyond comprehension. Oh, does 'suck' sound childish? Tinsel Town doesn't deserve better.
But I digress.
There has always been contention about the evolution of American music. The reality is this: Both the blues and traditional country/folk music (the collusion of the two eventually creating rock and roll) came directly from the churches, the gospels. The churches in the south, for the most part. The gospels, in fact, inform ALL American music. Thus, American music is steeped in the nation's uneasy relationship with the church as well as the uneasy relationship between "the races."
Strip away all the politics, though, and American music is the most direct plea for comfort amidst the brutal reality of existence. That being realized, American music is for Americans, ALL Americans.
We should never take credit from where it is due, though, and "Cadillac Records" attempts to straighten up any misconceptions about a vital piece of rock and roll's roots. Muddy Waters certainly had a whole heck of a lot to do with it. I dig Muddy, but I'm a bigger fan of Howlin' Wolf. His character in this film is not given nearly enough screen time. Chuck Berry, played by Mos Def (s.p.?) is also fun to watch as he negotiates the greed of the founder of Chess Records (Leonard Chess, played by Adrien Brody.) While I doubt anyone will be shoving too many Oscars at this movie, the acting is one of its high points. I have no idea what people were expecting from Beyonce, but she managed to convince me for the time she was on screen that she was Etta James. I guess that means she did her job, right?
"L.A. Weekly," a next-to-worthless so-called independent newspaper here in Los Angeles slammed the movie for not exploring the exploitation of these wonderful musicians by Leonard Chess. As is always the case with the incompetent and stupid critics at the "L.A. Weekly", they completely missed the boat. I think this film's true strong point is how it never misses a chance to point out the fact that yes, the musicians ultimately did get the credit they deserved for putting down the foundations of rock and roll, but they did so at financial peril. In the movie, Mr. Chess is constantly giving them Cadillacs instead of money to pay their bills. Typical in show business and, to me, the most heinous aspect of rock and roll's ignored history.
Credit will always find its way home. If someone asks who sang "Tutti Fruiti," nobody says Pat Boone. Artists get their proper respect eventually.
The crime that "Cadillac Records" superbly illustrates is that artists NEED TO GET PAID!!!
It's no good to be called a genius when you're dead. |
My Public Profile 
