Cadillac Records

It is interesting so many people have commented on the historical inaccuracies of the film and condemn the film because of this. No one said it was a historical film? It is an excellent film, and I would consider it a lot more than just popcorn entertainment...it has the *flavor* of history. And what is this about looking for historical details in the film? The film maker made a great film with a storyline built around music. We don't get to see such films which modify facts to suit the narrative and their budget. It made for great, entertaining viewing....One of the things that I have difficulty understanding is when some people either want facts or the book a film is based on to drive a feature film. Unless it's a documentary I don't think the filmmaker is obligated to base the film as such so long as the film openly declares that it is based on facts or book...i.e. it is not claiming to be factual but simply derives it's basic storyline from either as the case may be...beyond that the film has artistic license to adapt the historical or fictional narrative for the film. But if a film faithfully represents history or a particular book, that is welcome too.

Cadillac Records was focused on Chess Records and some of it's principal artistes. Who cares if there was a second brother or that there were other artistes....the film maker told a fictional interpretation of the facts and made it a thoroughly enjoyable film. We learn to care for the characters and get to experience their struggles, frustrations, relationships, foibles and talents etc.

Consider this too "fact junkies" - how many movies out there make for a good story to an audience who is NOT into a particular genre of music or art form, and yet gives them some inkling that a particular topic was loosely based on facts or a book. Whether or not everyone who saw the film came away convinced of it's historical inaccuracies, I am confident that those who did not care about such inaccuracies or even the blues, they certainly came away with a better perspective of a small aspect of the history of the blues (and some aspect of rock music) as well as a record company owner who supported and helped some musicians to become big names in the business. Such a segment of the audience would be unlikely to go see a documentary on the history of the blues. The film introduced the blues by making them accessible to an audience segment who otherwise would have been in the dark.

Getting down to the film, ALL actors portray their characters very well. I thought Eamonn (sp?) Walker and Beyonce playing Howling Wolf and Etta James respectively were quite simply amazing. Beyonce especially. Both their performances were riveting. I refer to them specifically because they had relatively smaller parts compared to Adrien Brody and Jeffery Wright, who did a fantastic job as well. If you see films to enjoy a good story...you have one here in spades. And it is sad that the movie did not get to play in theatres as long as it ought to have. This is a loss for film viewers as much as it is for the filmmakers who made it. But I know this movie is getting more play on DVD because word-of-mouth is getting around. Highly recommended.

At the time, rock and roll is but a gleam in a few unknown musicians' eyes. Through a generous helping of Waters/Walter's and other artists' music—with a fair helping of poetic license—writer/director Darnell Martin tells the relatively unknown story of the headwaters of the river of modern blues and rock and roll. The acting is excellent, and, no doubt, Cadillac Records is Jeffrey Wright's magnum opus to this point. Most viewers will recognize him from roles where he plays "the intelligent black man," and in the movie W, he plays Colin Powell. From the extras on the DVD, one learns that Wright has spent many years, several on stage, honing his craft. And he's good, even great, as the inimitable Muddy. Particularly, he manages the voice well, which is a low, gravelly mumble... though often hard to make out if your air conditioning kicks in.

...

For my complete review of this movie and for other movie and book reviews, please visit my site TheCoffeeCoaster.com.

Brian Wright Copyright 2009

It's hard to get a feel for a specific time and period in movies let alone an actual mood of a particular music. The best bio-pics on musicians tend to get it just about right (Bird, Sid & Nancy, The Doors, Walk the Line) even if the films aren't great or, even worse, have those tired old conventions of real-life people fit in tidy fashion for a 2-hour storyline. Sometimes all we can hope for is that they get the mood right, and even that isn't attained; some years back the wildly over-praised Ray had strong performances but, to me, didn't really capture that feel of what it was like to be in the midst of something really spectacular- we only saw it being great for Ray Charles (not that his music didn't help the movie, somewhat besides the point).

There's an attitude to a kind of music, whether it's punk or jazz or psychedelic rock or even in "wtf" mode in I'm Not There. The best thing about Cadillac Records, the thing that will have me go back and watch it again more than anything, is that it captures what it was like to be around the one of the significant blues explosions in America. There was always blues in the US in the 20th century, but it grew steadily, out of sorrow and bad days and nights and hate and love gone bad or good for African Americans. Cadillac Records covers some of the crucial blues artists- Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Chuck Berry (the cross-over), Willie Dixon, Etta James- and how their personalities were shaped by whatever was around them, and then into the songs. We may not get an entire life story out of all those in the film, but unlike Walk the Line or Ray we don't need it at all to know these people, or the characters.

The actors, it should be said, really do a lot of heavy lifting here. The music, it goes without saying, is spectacular and wonderful and often shown as developing out of a myriad of things (frustration, sadness, joy, craziness, anguish, love), but the script does follow some of those lines that are troublesome in bio-pics (one character, Little Walter, is the proverbial black sheep and that's almost all he is, and there's the obvious dippings in-and-out of relationship things).

So, the actors fill in the gaps in the formula, and make it far more enjoyable and full of life than it might have in other hands; this is the wisdom of the director Darnell Martin, usually a TV director. He casts not entirely on if they exactly fit the original people, but if they got the right stuff for the particular person: Muddy Waters, the real bad-ass of the group and the real main character of the story, is given powerhouse form by Jeffrey Wright in every frame; Beyonce Knowles, while hardly the worst thing in Dreamgirls, completely redeems herself and then some as Etta James, going all out in a full-fleshed out dramatic performance (how well she sings is a given); Columbus Short, given the walking cliché of Little, takes it for everything it's worth, and it is never less than interesting; Eaommon Walker (from Oz) is great as Howlin' Wolf in any scene; Mos Def finds the line of hamming it up and playing it for real for Chuck Berry, and makes it work all the way; Adrien Brody, as the token white main player, is given not a lot to work with either, but is also riveting and captivating and a reminder of why he won the Oscar years back.

But with all this gushing about the actors, I shouldn't forget about the music, the blues, all of it lovingly depicted (maybe at times too lovingly- Cedric's narration) while also in rightful critical form on how the blues got completely ripped off by any (arguably talented) rock band waiting in the wings. You can feel the blues dripping off the screen in some scenes in the first half of the film, the scenes with Waters playing in the club or just in his bedroom, or Chuck Berry playing on stage with a mixed crowd, or the dialog in certain scenes. As a fan of the blues, it hit its target right on spot while hopefully converting some who don't know Muddy Waters or Howlin Wolfs' catalogs like Ray Charles. One more cliché to note, a positive one: it gets you whistling as you leave the theater and tapping your feet at your seat. That's good enough sometimes.

Anyone remember those old K-Tel compilation albums with the hits slightly sped up so the K-Tel folks could pack in more songs? CADILLAC RECORDS (CR) gives a similar treatment to the story of Chess Records, nicknamed "Cadillac Records" because the Polish-American Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil (Adrien Brody and Norman Reedus, reunited from the film SIX WAYS TO Sunday), would give the artists Caddies as rewards -- out of the artists' own royalties! Chess Records got the music of Muddy Waters, Etta James, Chuck Berry, and other seminal R&B performers out to the general public, climbing the charts as what were then called "race records." Perhaps because of time and/or money constraints, writer/director Darnell Martin seems to rush through the Chess stars' highs (sometimes literally, with scenes of drug and/or alcohol abuse) and lows, forcing her to condense her subjects' dramatic life stories to the point where they don't even seem to age (other than a few perfunctory silver streaks visible in Brody's hair late in the film) despite the indication that years have passed. Even the Chess brothers' own story is only half-told, with the focus being on Leonard as Phil is rendered all but invisible. Heck, for half the film, I thought Phil was just another sound engineer, since we in the audience only ever see him during recording sessions! That said, I still found a lot to like about CR. I was riveted and moved by the events and the performances, and the musical numbers kick butt; I want the soundtrack (maybe even the original versions of the songs :-))! Jeffrey Wright commands the screen as Muddy Waters, who becomes Chess Records' first star, complete with groupies. He comes home one night to find wife Geneva (sympathetically played by Gabrielle Union) with a baby in her arms -- left there by a fan who says Muddy's the father. Mos Def adds sly humor as Chuck Berry. Eamonn Walker is downright scary as Muddy's rival, Howlin' Wolf. Columbus Short breaks your heart and drives you crazy all at once as Little Walter, whose lack of a mother or self-discipline proves to be his tragic flaw. Beyoncé Knowles shows she has range as both an actress and a singer in her fiery, heartrending portrayal of the talented but troubled Etta James. Leonard tries to help Etta to learn to "sing the blues, not live it," but with Etta's emotional baggage, that's easier said than done. Things only get more complicated when she and Leonard become attracted to each other despite his having a sweet, pretty wife, Revetta (Emmanuelle Chriqui). I'm not surprised that in real life, Etta herself gave her blessing to Beyoncé's soulful rendition of "At Last," the ultimate make-out song and Presidential inauguration anthem! :-) Although Leonard Chess is almost more like a host here than a well-drawn character, Brody nevertheless works well with the cast and has great chemistry with Beyoncé. In fact, he gets a good amount of on screen love action, including a nude scene with the fetching Chriqui! :-)

'Cadillac Records' is an admirable attempt to tell the tale of the legendary Chess Records,which did for Blues what Atlantic Records did for R&B/Soul,Jazz,Rock & Roll,etc. The main problem is that Hollywood can always be counted on for totally screwing up any & all forms of social history (and fumbles the ball,big time as usual). The film's writer/director obviously didn't do a whole lot of home work in looking for historical authenticity. It seemed to content that Chess Records only had about a handful of talent recording (Muddy Waters,Howlin' Wolf,Etta James,while totally ignoring Bo Diddley & the stable of other equally talented musicians & song writers). A friend of mine who knows his onions in the field of creative African American/Black music told me of a lot of the glaring omissions that was left out of this film (there were actually two Chess brothers that ran the label),as well as the fact that several Rhythm & Blues,Rock & Roll & even Jazz acts also recorded for Chess Records,back in the day. Adrian Brody,who normally pulls down some world class roles seems content to be the closest thing to a used car salesman (while spouting a nearly non stop,fire cracker string of swearing out of his mouth). Jeffrey Wright has some nice screen time as Muddy Waters. Some of the rest of the cast just seems wasted in this half baked attempt of telling the story of Blues music. This film only played out for a couple of weeks before it ended up as a 2nd string, budget line feature (does that tell you something?). Rated 'R' by the MPAA, this film features wall to wall swearing,lots of sexual goings-on,drug & alcohol abuse & other material that you probably wouldn't want junior to see (at least until he/she's a bit older)