Product: Cadillac Records [Blu-ray] (2008)
Rating: 3.0
Weak story arc but still somewhat entertaining
Cadillac Records is really the story of Chess Records founded by a businessman named Leonard Chess who signed some of the biggest black entertainers in the music business during the 50s and 60s. Supposedly Chess Records came to be known as Cadillac Records due to Chess's penchant for paying his musicians with Cadillacs and not cash.I've read that there were quite a few liberties taken with the historical record in composing the screenplay. This is particularly true of Leonard Chess (played by a miscast Adrien Brody) who purportedly short-changed the musicians who were under contract to him (the Chess in "Cadillac Records" is more of a good-natured cheerleader who always tries to be a great friend to the musicians he hires).The chief flaw of Cadillac Records is that it doesn't have a central protagonist. Just as we're getting used to Muddy Waters as the main character, he's supplanted by Little Walter and Howlin Wolf. Then suddenly Chuck Berry takes the spotlight only to be replaced by Etta James. Unfortunately, the shelf life of musicians (and even big time musicians) is not very long--usually only a few years in the spotlight.Mos Def is excellent as a wild and creative Chuck Berry but his screen time is much too short for such a seminal figure. Each of the four main characters have one or two things that happen to them that's quite interesting. With Chuck Berry, it's the fact that he was arrested for violating the Mann Act--having sex with underage girls and traveling over interstate lines. Little Walter ends up shooting a man for simply using his name in a musical group (I couldn't understand why there was no investigation into that shooting). In addition to Muddy Water's womanizing, there's also some attention paid to his financial problems that occurred after he no longer was churning out hit records.While Beyonce looks real fine as Etta James, her acting is a bit over the top as she portrays the singer's descent into heroin addiction. I didn't buy Leonard Chess's flirtation with Etta James and Brody and Beyonce simply have no chemistry together.Cadillac Records is narrated by songwriter Willie Dixon played by Cedric the Entertainer. The film needs a narrator to compensate for the lack of a strong story arc. Nonetheless, Cadillac Records is worth seeing for the music and the recreation of a bygone era. Just don't expect any drama that will knock your socks off!