Product: Cadillac Records [Blu-ray] (2008)
Rating: 4.0
Great film. What were the critics thinking about?
I, like most everyone assumed that this film sucked because the critics said so and because this film flopped at the box office with comparisons to Dream Girls. I JUST got around to watching this and I must say that it was great. Jeffry Wright is indeed a GREAT actor - I WILL say better than Denzel or whoever is the best male actor out. Whatever role he plays, you are thinking of that character, not the actor. Too many 'actors' play a role, but you are thinking, "that's Will Smith" or "that's Brad Pitt." Wright is Wright on!First, I heard of Muddy Waters, Little Walter Etta James and of course Chuck Berry, but Chuck is the only one who's songs I was aware of. I knew next to nothing about the others except that British rock groups always paid homage to Muddy Waters as influence. So if nothing else, movies like these helped to shine a light on these acts and make those of us not in the know aware of their music.I watched, and as I always do, I like to research to see how much was true and what the people actually looked like. I knew what Etta and Chuck looked like before hand, but not the rest. I can say that for once a film got people who actually looked like the people! People say that Beyonce cannot act, but she did a respectable job. Mos-Def as Chuck Berry was good as they have similar features. Mos Def did a great job. Remember - he was an actor BEFORE he became a rapper!One thing I noticed, but was not surprised about was the Chess brothers and the film referring to him as white, but not noting that he (they) were Jewish, which they seem to dominate the music business and were instrumental in ripping off black artist - which they did show, just not in the name of Jews. They also showed how white artists stole from them which is good. As years continue to go by, history keeps being change so that Rock starts with Elvis and is further refined by The Beatles. It appears as if only the British artist acknowledge the source - black America, while white America likes to take and dismiss black creativity. I suppose this is why British artist are better at rock than most white Americans.Great film, truer to real life than many films and if nothing else, is great for the historical record for where rock and other musics came from. Without black America, there would be no unique American culture. We would be like Australia - without the American influence.