DjfunkmasterG
28-Jun-2009, 05:20 AM
Cadillac Records is a really decent film about the Chess Records family and how Muddy Waters, little walter, Howling Wolf, and Etta jame brought R&B to the forefront, and how Muddy and Len Chess put blues on the map.
Jeffery Wright's acting is really top notch here and I felt he really embraced Muddy (Based on what I have read and heard from various bits in my 37 years on this planet). Beyonce as Etta James was a surprising enjoyment, not because she embraced Etta, but you could really see her acting chops blossoming throughout the film.
Other notable performance goes to Mos Def as Chuck Berry, while his bit is small, i think Mos really brought Chuck Berry to life, I just wish he had more screen time.
However, Cadillac records suffers from I think was most likely a studio re-edit of the film. I really believe the film was taken away from the director and re-cut extensively by either the producers or the studios. You can tell and feel there was a much larger story in there and somehow the hack and slash editing job made the story almost unbearable to follow at times.
I really feel that you could tell that there was an epic story in the raw footage, So many things seemed unfinished and from the numerous timeline issues you can tell the editors didn't give a crap about continuity and story.
Cedric the Entertainer provides an opening narration, and continued narration throughout the film, and it is this narration that really brings the flaws to light as it doesn't seem logical for this sequence to even be needed. I think at some point a re-write was performed in Post Production and the opening narration was shot as an after thought.
Now while I was able to feel these flaws it doesn't mean that is the case, just an observation. Otherwise I did enjoy Cadillac records because I could piece together in my mind a lot of the missing bits that would have made this story 100% complete. In my opinion it is worth a viewing and I think a majority of watchers will find it very enjoyable.
Plus it brings up some History of Blues great Muddy Waters, and if you're heavily into rock and really truly love the history of music, this is a decent film to watch and kill 100 minutes on.
7 out of 10
Jeffery Wright's acting is really top notch here and I felt he really embraced Muddy (Based on what I have read and heard from various bits in my 37 years on this planet). Beyonce as Etta James was a surprising enjoyment, not because she embraced Etta, but you could really see her acting chops blossoming throughout the film.
Other notable performance goes to Mos Def as Chuck Berry, while his bit is small, i think Mos really brought Chuck Berry to life, I just wish he had more screen time.
However, Cadillac records suffers from I think was most likely a studio re-edit of the film. I really believe the film was taken away from the director and re-cut extensively by either the producers or the studios. You can tell and feel there was a much larger story in there and somehow the hack and slash editing job made the story almost unbearable to follow at times.
I really feel that you could tell that there was an epic story in the raw footage, So many things seemed unfinished and from the numerous timeline issues you can tell the editors didn't give a crap about continuity and story.
Cedric the Entertainer provides an opening narration, and continued narration throughout the film, and it is this narration that really brings the flaws to light as it doesn't seem logical for this sequence to even be needed. I think at some point a re-write was performed in Post Production and the opening narration was shot as an after thought.
Now while I was able to feel these flaws it doesn't mean that is the case, just an observation. Otherwise I did enjoy Cadillac records because I could piece together in my mind a lot of the missing bits that would have made this story 100% complete. In my opinion it is worth a viewing and I think a majority of watchers will find it very enjoyable.
Plus it brings up some History of Blues great Muddy Waters, and if you're heavily into rock and really truly love the history of music, this is a decent film to watch and kill 100 minutes on.
7 out of 10