I think CADILLAC RECORDS needs to be taken to task -- as good as it looks and sounds -- for some of its many oversights.
You would think that with all that has been written about the early days of rock and roll that a film about Chess Records could dive deeper than what we get here. I teach a media class and we cover the history of rock. And there is little in CADILLAC RECORDS that my students wouldn't already know from a few days worth of lessons and video clips.
Most egregious of all is the complete omission of Leonard Chess' brother, Phil. How do you not include him?
With all of this said, you'd be hard pressed to find a mediocre, run-of-the-mill biopic that sounds this good. I loved watching Mos Def as Chuck Berry in particular, and Beyonce is great as a potty-mouthed Etta James.
Given my passion for music, I only wish that this had been treated more carefully.
The story runs all over the place...it's like Spark Notes for the birth of rock.
And Adrien Brody has ZERO charisma as Chess...you can't even tell if he cares about the music, or just the money...or both?
Until they make a proper film about this worthy subject, I'd say that CADILLAC RECORDS is worth your time for the spot-on imitations of some of our history's founders of popular music. But that's about it.
2.0 out of 4
You would think that with all that has been written about the early days of rock and roll that a film about Chess Records could dive deeper than what we get here. I teach a media class and we cover the history of rock. And there is little in CADILLAC RECORDS that my students wouldn't already know from a few days worth of lessons and video clips.
Most egregious of all is the complete omission of Leonard Chess' brother, Phil. How do you not include him?
With all of this said, you'd be hard pressed to find a mediocre, run-of-the-mill biopic that sounds this good. I loved watching Mos Def as Chuck Berry in particular, and Beyonce is great as a potty-mouthed Etta James.
Given my passion for music, I only wish that this had been treated more carefully.
The story runs all over the place...it's like Spark Notes for the birth of rock.
And Adrien Brody has ZERO charisma as Chess...you can't even tell if he cares about the music, or just the money...or both?
Until they make a proper film about this worthy subject, I'd say that CADILLAC RECORDS is worth your time for the spot-on imitations of some of our history's founders of popular music. But that's about it.
2.0 out of 4
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