That's the Way of the World

This film was featured on the Decades You Were Born in 1970s. While the film could be forgettable, Harvey Keitel stands out as Coleman Buckmaster, a New York City music producer. The film has a largely forgettable storyline and romance between Coleman and Amanda. Coleman's entire life was dedicated to music. He goes to a party with music industry people. He wants to promote his group over a lily white singing group from Florida. His relationship with Amanda grows from their first meeting. The film is satisfactory overall. I enjoyed seeing New York City in the 1970s. Other then Keitel and Earth, Wind and Fire, I don't see many familiar names in the cast. If you're a devout Harvey Keitel fan, you will see this film as his breakout as a leading actor.

While Earth, Wind, & Fire appear in this movie and their music-particularly the instrumental parts of "Shining Star" and the movie title song-are showcased, it's not about them at least not all the way through. They play The Group which is record producer Harvey Keitel's passion project. But his major record company wants him to drop them to concentrate on a supposedly wholesome family act called The Pages. Keitel's character really doesn't want to but he's told he has no choice. So he does what he can to make them sound good while also getting involved with the female lead singer Velour (Cynthia Bostick). She's really into him while he's keeping his cool much of the time. I'll just now say this was quite compelling dramatically and while it threatens to get explosive, it's not blisteringly so. So I say give That's the Way of the World a look.

I haven't seen this film since it came out in the mid 70s, but I do recall it as being a very realistic portrayal of the music business ( right up there with Paul Simons "One Trick Pony " ..another vastly underrated film IMO )

Harvey Keitel does an excellent job as a producer caught between the music he believes in , and the commercial "tripe" the record company "suits" want him to work with.

Since I spent my entire career in the music business as a composer /arranger /producer, I can really vouch for the verisimilitude this film possesses.

If it should ever come out on DVD uncut, I'd buy it!

While it has been more than ten years since I have seen That's The Way of The World, I can say that anyone who sees the picture will appreciate it, and its view of the music industry. Harvey Keitel plays a record executive who appreciates the talent of a band played by Earth Wind and Fire. However, the record company is forcing him to promote a white popular act(based primarily on The Carpenters). While Keitel's character stays true to his heart, the overall message of the movie is that popular culture, expressed by music and images, maintains a discriminatory profile of American culture. If you see this movie, realize that it was made before disco became truly popular in the USA.

Another point to mention is that the movie deserves a look, but suffered because it was hard to market. Yes, unfortunately in 1975, American society was still segregated. Black music was marketed to blacks only, while popular music was either rock/heavy metal or melody music. Because white audiences were not as familiar with EWF, they did not care that they were in the picture. On the other hand, this was at the climax of the blaxploitation era, and the soundtrack and appearance of EWF were hyped to black audiences. However, when people saw the film and realized that the group only make brief appearances, they turned away.

My point is that because of the racial attitudes of American culture in 1975, the movie was not appreciated as it should have been. So when you watch it, please do so with an open mind. One of the more refreshing things about it is that it is a drama with more substance than style, and easy to get into without always being reminded that you're watching something from the 1970s.

Charles Stepney, who was involved in the making of the motion picture, was a close associate of Maurice White. He was involved in EWF's music leading into this project.

This is an often amusing insider look at the music business. Keitel plays a producer who is saddled with a G-rated group and is expected to make them popular with the public. There are lots of satirical in-jokes about the egos of recording stars, their managers and the people who run the studios. It has a lot of 70s nostalgia value and many of the philosophies spouted by the characters are still en vogue with the music biz today. All in all, a good job by all involved.