Home > Rhythm & Views > Archives > 2008 > December > 08 > Entry
Beyonce OK, Not The Star of “Cadillac Records”
Though Beyonce was the big name designed to draw the audience, the star of the film was Jeffrey Wright. Wright, who played blues guitarist and singer Muddy Waters, is one of the best - and most underrated - actors in Hollywood. Among the many roles he’s played are Martin Luther King in the TV movie Boycott, a drug dealer in Shaft, a rehabilitated felon in Lackawanna Blues, and Gen. Colin Powell in W.
In Cadiallac Records, he takes a mediocre script and delivers a stellar performance. He also sings in the role.
“Muddy Waters dug this poetry and this music out of the dirt and fused it with his own humanity and celebrated in spite of everything that was denied him,” Wright told National Public Radio. “These folks were heroic artists in that way. They were producing something out of nothing.”
The film, about the rise of Chess Records and its artists including James, Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Walter and Howlin’ Wolf, suffers from a lack of focus. It bounces between the dealings of the record label and the personal lives of the artists. It doesn’t spend enough time, however, on either to get the audience truly invested.
You get just an inkling about the impact these artists, the progenitors of rock n roll, had on the genre.
Mos Def turns in a decent performance as Chuck Berry, The film gave Gabrielle Union, who plays Muddy’s down-to-earth, stand by your man no matter what girlfriend Geneva, a chance to play a character different from the I’m a diva, catch-me-if-you-can girlfriend roles she’s been more popular for.
Columbus Short, who played in last year’s holiday film This Christmas, was a treat to watch as was a blues singer, harmonica player, and guitarist Little Walter.
I took my teenagers to see Cadillac Records and it was a nice history lesson for them that they enjoyed.
I’d give the overall film a C. Jeffrey Wright an A+ It’s worth the $9 to see him as Muddy.
Comments
By itoldyouso
December 8, 2008 7:40 PM | Link to this
It’s obvious the director and others in charge of making this film left reality on the cutting room floor. Why in the world would they let the caption “Chicago 1952” appear and then show a brochure for 1958 Cadillacs? Or Chuck Berry singing Nadine when the song was not released until AFTER he was released from Jail. Where was Phillip Chess? It was entertaining to watch although quite predictable.
The one thing that is a big positive is the fact Etta James, Hubert Sumlin (who had a cameo) and Chuck Berry are all still very much alive and performing. Hopefully the movie will get plenty of ticket sales. Then the actual people will get a piece of the action getting booked at even more concert venues.