![]() ![]() If many of the characters are walking stereotypes, the actors still personalize the roles, often with wry humor. This delirious approach almost works, in part because of winning performances. Everything is anecdotal, melodramatic and smushed together: Fights break out, guns go off, musicians are arrested, men pull from their wives' arms to rush to other women, and each emotional crescendo plays to an audience of prominent witnesses. Martin, who's worked mostly in TV, doesn't attempt a historical viewpoint. There's also the matter of money: Paternalistic to a fault, Chess gives his performers Cadillacs and houses, but doesn't necessarily pay the royalties they've earned. Some musicians are sidetracked by alcohol and heroin, racist cops are always a threat, and pop-music fashions change quickly. The course of musical revolution does not run smooth, of course. ![]() Most notable are the growly, hulking Howlin' Wolf, blues-gone-pop belter Etta James and country-tinged rock-and-roller Chuck Berry. Both Waters and Little Walter score hits, and more musicians arrive. Then Waters' band crashes Chess' new nightclub, leading to a contract with the Polish-Jewish blues aficionado's even newer business, a record company.Ĭhess opens a Southside studio and - in a scene familiar from nearly every birth-of-rock movie - instructs a stuffy engineer not to worry that the music's too noisy. ![]() The singer-guitarist moves in with nurturing Geneva Wade (Gabrielle Union), and adopts teenage harmonica genius Little Walter (Columbus Short). Inspired by an encounter with folklorist Alan Lomax, Waters heads north. Both movies are fairy tales, but Cadillac Records is far truer to one essential thing: the music.Īfter a clunky opening montage, writer-director Darnell Martin introduces her narrator, blues songwriter Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), and two central characters: Chicago entrepreneur Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) and Mississippi sharecropper Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright). “That’s a Beyonce I don’t think anyone’s seen yet.Blues brothers: From left, Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers as Kevin Mambo and Columbus Short as Little Walter.Īn exuberant fictionalization of the Chess Records story, Cadillac Records plays a gritty counterpoint to Dreamgirls. “People will be most surprised that the glamorous Beyonce allowed herself to be seen in the desperate straits that Etta went through, including her heroin addiction,” says Sony BMG Music Entertainment chairman Andrew Lack, who produced “Cadillac Records” with Sony BMG Films executive VP Sophia Sondervan. Raphael Saadiq, Beyonce’s sister Solange, Mary Mary, Nas, Buddy Guy and Elvis Presley also have songs on the album. The soundtrack, which will be available in both single- and double-disc editions, also includes tracks from Mos Def (portraying Chuck Berry), Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters), Columbus Short (as Little Walter) and Eamonn Walker (as Howlin’ Wolf). “It gave me the confidence and the push to challenge myself a little more with my music.” “I realized that Etta James was so unapologetic, bold and strong that playing her was a big risk for me,” Beyonce recently told Billboard of the experience. Beyonce stars as James in the film, which chronicles the rise and fall of iconic label Chess Records. Beyonce’s cover of Etta James’ “At Last” will lead the soundtrack for “Cadillac Records,” due Dec. ![]()
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