Friday, December 5, 2008

Movie review: Cadillac Records

By John P. Meyer

There's a lot to like about Cadillac Records, writer/director Darnell Martin's fictionalized film chronicle of the rise of Chess Records and the artists and visionaries who made it happen.

The chief thing to like about it might be the fabulous music, which includes renditions of some of the most memorable tunes recorded by folks such as Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Chuck Berry, Howlin' Wolf and Etta James. Furthermore, the songs are actually performed by the actors who portray the legendary music greats (Jeffrey Wright, Columbus Short, Mos Def, Eamonn Walker and Beyoncé Knowles, corresponding to the order of characters listed above).

Another thing going for it is the insightful historical context within which the action and musical performances are framed. Chess Records was started by a Jewish immigrant from Poland named Leonard Chess (played in the movie by Adrien Brody), who started out by opening a nightclub on the predominantly black south side of Chicago in the late 1940's. Becoming fascinated with blues music, Chess bought into a recording studio and succeeded in popularizing the work of many of the artists noted above through the judicious application of radio DJ payola: sure, the music was great, but (we're given to believe) without the bribes, a lot of it would never have been granted airtime.

Adrien Brody IS Leonard Chess

There's much made of the fact that Chess and his group of regular recording artists contributed to the erosion of the color barriers that existed at the time. In one scene, Chuck Berry (Mr. Def, doing the duck-walk) plays before a crowd in the deep south which has been divided off into "colored" and "white" sections through the agency of a rope-and-stanchion arrangement; in the crush of mad fans who want to get closer to their rock and roll idol, however, the ropes quickly come down.

Of course, these sorts of occurrences represent only minor inroads into a firmly-entrenched regime of institutionalized segregation: in a prior scene we find Berry sleeping rough in the front seat of his Cadillac because the motel near his performance venue caters only to whites. (There do end up being some perks to this arrangement, however...)

In final analysis, green ends up being the color of greatest importance, as the money pours in from one hit record after another - Chess earns its moniker of "Cadillac Records" due to the fact that Leonard had a habit of buying one of Detroit's finest for each and every one of his star performers.

Muddy on guitar; Little Walter on harp: best buds with talent to burn.

I'm impressed with the big-screen directing and story-telling talents of TV veteran Ms. Martin (who - when you look at her next to Beyoncé - pretty much holds her own in the realm of "pure d" hotness). While the film seems a bit long for its 109 minutes, it never particularly drags - it's just that Martin is trying to tell a multi-faceted historical tale in a single sitting that might easily prove to be fodder for a multi-episode mini-series (hey, there's an idea!).

Mr. Wright (as Muddy Waters) carries the show, along with Mr. Brody's Leonard Chess; their screen time is roughly equivalent, and both actors acquit themselves well. Columbus Short does a great job portraying harp-man Little Walter as a fast-burning fuse of a talent who lights up everyone around him before crashing spectacularly. Cedric the Entertainer (as songwriter/performer Willie Dixon) narrates the story from an unspecified point in "modern times," growling out his lines from his position behind a microphone (and beneath a slouch hat).

Beyoncé does Etta - at last. (Nice wig.)

Eamonn Walker's take on Howlin' Wolf is an over-the-top scene-stealer, as he practically sprays testosterone around whatever room he happens to be in. This Wolf has a stare so baleful it puts Christian Bale's to shame - and his stare is Bale-ful by definition. Not only would you not want to find yourself in a dark alley with this character, you might want to vacate the neighborhood entirely. (I'm talkin' menacing.)

Beyoncé pretty much just does her Beyoncé thing (singing, draping herself over the furniture and generally slinking around the various sets) - the blonde wig helps in the service of her Etta James portrayal, and she ends up generally succeeding as a blues singer with good reasons for singing the blues.

Got a love for classic blues and roots rock? Get on down to the theater and catch Cadillac Records. You won't be disappointed.

Oh, and one more thing: if you'd like to hear some of the original recordings of the songs performed in the film, check out this album. (Hey, the actors may do their dead level best, but there's nothing like the real thing. Baby.

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• Arts > Movies / Film > Mainstream Movies
• Arts > Popular Music > Blues

Comments

Mike Orren Staff

Methinks that http://www.musicworldent.com/ needs to work on its PR/Promotion/Commentspam strategy.

Other spam comment removed; We'll let this one stand for posteriority.

11 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

xdavidwattsx Anonymous

Never thought I'd want to see a movie starring Beyonce but with Chess Recs being the topic it sounds enticing. Plus, I gotta see how Mos Def pulls of Chuck Berry.

11 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )