A: The Black owner (Danny Glover) of a blues club in rural Alabama, in the 1950s, owes everybody money, and has one weekend to earn enough in cover charges, liquor and food, to pay all his debts and save his club, The Honeydripper.
Q: Who’s in the movie?
A: Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Yaya DaCosta, Charles S. Dutton, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Gary Clark Jr., Mable John, Stacy Keach
Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?
A:
Stop! I truly enjoyed the last ten minutes of this movie, which were high energy and filled with blues music, but I can not in good conscience recommend the rest of it to anybody. I have racked my brain to think of who might enjoy this long and slow paced meditation on being a musician in the Black south in the1950s, and I have come up blank. I thought maybe Blues and Gospel fans would like it, but there isn’t nearly enough music strung throughout the movie to satisfy that audience. I thought maybe Black Americans would like it because this is a part of their personal history, but the racial issues were covered tritely, and didn’t seem to add anything to the general knowledge most people already have about that time period. If anything, I would say the film was too soft in all areas.Q: Will this movie make me laugh?
A: A couple of light chuckles, nothing memorable.
Q: Will this movie make me cry?
A: Not even if you cry easily.
Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?
A: It tied for Best Screenplay at the San Sebastian International Film Festival, with Siete Mesas de Billar Frances. But keep in mind, English is not a Spanish judge’s first language, and I’m guessing the festival was kinda dead this year.
Q: How is the Acting?
A: Danny Glover and Charles S. Dutton are a fun “buddy” team. Yaya DaCosta of America’s Next Top Model (Cycle 2) is still skinny. And Gary Clark Jr., in his first acting role, shows off why he’s one of the hottest young blues guitar players in the world. Okay, that’s not really a comment on his acting. But he’s so relaxed when he’s playing his music, that in contrast, it becomes more obvious that he’s not relaxed when he’s not playing.
Q: How is the Directing?
A: This is another example of a director not knowing when to cut. Coming in at a little over 2 hours, I can think of several whole scenes that were completely unnecessary toward advancing the very thin plot.
Q: How is the story/script?
A: While it’s clearly a personal story that John Sayles wanted to communicate about his connection to this type of music and it’s roots, I can’t say that his love of it translated from his heart and mind to his audience.
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