Honeydripper

The movie was enjoyable. Only complaint would be that it moved slowly, and with a two-hour length ... made it seem quite long. Reasonable plot, well composed, well acted & directed. The supporting actress for the character of China Doll had some very good moments. Tighter editing and better pacing would have made it much much better. It is not the best film in the world, but of good quality and very much worth watching - it will probably fall under the radar for Hollywood and the general populace.

The really outstanding thing was the music. While not a musical, it does stop whole-heartedly to focus on the performers and the music. Think "Black Snake Moan" but without repeated cuts/editing. Those who love blues, six-count blues and early rock-and-roll will likely enjoy the film. I intend to get the soundtrack. It apparently includes Ruth Brown's final recording, as well as work by Dr. Mable John & Keb' Mo. Newcomer Gary Clark Jr., a Texan actor and musician shows good potential. Although this performance at Chicago and New Your music festivals last year (with the "Honeydripper All-Stars" promoting the film) have larger dynamic and vitality to them. His performance of the song China Doll, which John Salyes apparently wrote/co-wrote, is on the other hand quite entertaining.

OK, let me say right off the bat I am a little biased. This film was shot here in Alabama, and most of it was filmed right here in my home county of Butler. One of my high school classmate's son is featured throughout the movie as "Lonnie" and other folks I know served as extras or performed as part of the choir.

And I loved seeing the people and places I know up on the big screen. I think Maggie and John are "da bomb." The woman is a hugger; I love that warmth. John's the most down-to-earth guy.

That being said, I can also honestly report to you "Honeydripper" is a good movie - not perfect, but very much worth seeing. I think Danny Glover is sensational in the lead role as Pine Top and he and Charles Dutton are totally believable as two old pals fighting the odds to save Pine Top's blues club. Keb' Mo' is delightful as the "Greek Chorus" known as Possum, a mysterious and witty blind guitarist.

If you love blues music and early rock 'n' roll; if you enjoy a story that takes its time, one filled with complex characters and some memorable lines penned by Sayles - a movie made with love and lots of heart - then "Honeydripper" just might be for you.

This is not a great movie by any stretch, but it is a very GOOD one. My rating should be 7.8. IMDb, invest in some higher technology! John Sayles proves yet again what can be done when there is unity of vision on a film, and when everyone involved passionately believes in what they are doing. Any limitations this film has must surely be due to the budget (was there one?) rather than any creative lapses on Sayles' part.

In fact, the only problems I have with "Honeydripper" are technical: some of the shots are out of focus, some of the scenes drag, and there is not a lot of dramatic tension to carry the piece along. It is enough, though, for those of us who can handle something more relaxed than the kinetics of Michael Bey or Steven ("I'll do anything for an Oscar!") Spielberg.

"Honeydripper" is really a small character study of a working class man, surrounded by good people, who is trying do do right by them and himself. It is a romance for the nostalgia of the Deep South in 1950, a period where Jim Crow was on the cusp of yielding to John Kennedy.

It is also a romance for music, where Gospel and Blues was about to fuse and metamorphise into Rock 'n Roll. Sayles loves everything he is doing; you can feel the writer/director's respect and integrity through the camera and the screen.

Unusual for a Sayles film, Danny Glover anchors the piece as its central character, the axis upon which the story and all the characters revolve. All the characters are complete human beings, with only a few drawn as caricatures. I don't mind.

This would be a good film to show as a double bill with "The Great Debators". Several themes overlap, but "Honeydrippers" is the more mature film. Here, a man's biggest grievance is not being able to live in dignity as a man who pays his way. Sayles' characteristic character arcs provide us with many dignified men and women who achieve that dignity by finding ways to honestly pay their way. They do it with joy, love and creativity.

Another fine Working Class film from Cinema's Working Class Hero.

I tuned into this one while trolling for a film and became immediately absorbed. The film interlocks several plots, as 'The Waltons' used to do -- the problem of keeping the night spot out of the hands of the criminal creditors, the issue of the unfulfilled wife (nicely mirrored by the alcoholic white woman for whom she is a servant), young love developing between the guitar player and lovely China Doll, a dispute between two cotton pickers (one a city slicker, the other a local field hand), the sheriff who, of course, is a racist but who loves un-spiced fried chicken, the inevitable tug of fundamentalist religion on the underclass of a rural town, and two waifs who end the film with a mime of the musicians they hope to be. I confess that I was stationed in southern Georgia a little after the time of this film and found my own experiences coming back vividly. It is a warm film, drawing on an ominous set of possibilities lurking behind the action, and it doesn't cheat with its interlocking happy endings. What a surprise!

So is this guy who gets off the train and carries a guitar in fact the famous man himself? Hardly. And Sonny is advised by the fantastic and friendly blind dobro player that he is on the wrong side of town.

Let me put it this way: There's good rockin' tonight! Yes, I said rock. Five years before white people discovered rock and roll, these people were doing it and doing it quite well.

There are outstanding performances from just about everyone. Danny Glover has some scenes that I wouldn't be surprised to see as Oscar clips. Charles Dutton does his usual fine work and makes us laugh. Stacy Keach also does great work. Mary Steenburgen has a good scene as the employer of one of the black women.

Keb Mo' gives what may the best performance of all, and not just as an actor. He can play that dobro!

The musicians are very talented, particularly Gary Clark.

Even those young boys give good performances, however brief. You have to watch them again at the end, after their pretend musical instruments have improved.

It's an outstanding effort you just have to see.