Cadillac Records (2008)

People seem upset that this doesn't convey all the facts as correctly as a documentary. But the same could be said for McFarland. I was not a Beyonce fan till this flick and discovered how good she is as an actor. Adrian Brody gives his typical solid performance. Jeffrey Wright plays his role with emotion and feeling and you get a real sense of the pain he feels and conveys it wonderfully with his acting. The movie is moving, emotional, and compelling, I have never seen anything to suggest it was a documentary but rather great actors telling a story about the start of something big in an era of racism and a man that helped to make it happen. Enjoy the movie for what it is-a movie about a difficult subject that might be historically flawed, that isn't the fault of actors which give a wonderful performance.

I wish I could say I loved this movie. The artists at Chess Records have been my heroes for more than thirty years. I really wanted to love this movie, but I just couldn't.It wasn't the historical errors, but just a whole lot of really bad acting, and the way certain performers (Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters) turned incredibly powerful, charismatic creative people into boring, drippy, whining losers. What's even more frustrating is that Mos Def is passable as Chuck Berry, and Eamonn Walker totally nails Howlin' Wolf -- but those two actors get about five minutes of screen time.And of course, just to pander to the vast audience dying to see Adrien Brody and Beyonce make out (????) we get a pointless and non-historical "love affair" between Etta James and Leonard Chess.And just when it can't get any dumber, we have Willie Dixon's voice over, which must have been put in for all the eight year old kids who were presumably dying to watch this movie and learn about the blues. ("Ya see, an acoustic guitar is fine when they ain't nothing' but empty fields around you, but in the city you gots to have . . . an electric guitar.") Thanks for clearing that up, Willie.This is me, banging my head against the wall.

Was really looking forward to this but had to turn it off after half an hour due to the mass inclusion in every other word of the abhorrent swear term Motherf***er! Why the industry seems to think this is a nice phrase to listen to is beyond me. It's bad enough when we have the F word littered through out a movie but this is EVERY other word - why? do you think it adds to the 'flavour' - well it doesn't, it turns people off. Was this word even around in the fifties or just some modern day idiot who thinks it's a 'fine' word because it isn't. You show yourself up for the poor writer you are having this nasty term in every other word. It's a real shame too as this could have been great.

Wow, I've never seen a biopic take such liberties with facts... to the point that the film even invents a murder that never happened. But in all fairness, so did "Amadeus".The point of the film, however, is not to present facts but to foster interest. That much is said in the director's commentary: she says that if people become interested to learn more about these (and other) classic artists, then the film has done its job.Then by all means, it succeeded. The names of Muddy Waters, Etta James, Little Walter & Howlin Wolf have always been a footnote to the general public (including myself). But now I'll definitely take notice.If you're already a blues aficianado, then I doubt you'll care much for this film. But if you're part of the target audience--those who are not familiar with the origin of rock'n'roll or who think erroneously (as I did) that Elvis was the one who started it all--then this movie is worth a watch.I'll give you one warning. It gets ugly. This is NOT a film to be showcased during Black History Month! It portrays many of these artists at their worst: drug-addicted, alcoholic, violent, sex-crazed, uneducated, selfish and perpetually angry. The film has a very cynical, malicious vibe. But I think this was done with a specific intent; the director seemed to be making a strong metaphor to today's gangsta rap, probably with the hopes of reaching a young generation that never appreciated blues & rock'n'roll. I thought that was an interesting angle, though it must offend many blues purists.So there you have it... Don't expect facts. Don't expect history. Don't expect many feel-good moments. Instead expect a very stylish drama about the Chicago 'hood with a lot of sex, drugs & rock'n'roll. I know it sounds like I'm disparaging the movie, but I'm not. I really thought it was an interesting presentation.