“Cadillac Records” turns the tables on the music business biopic by trying to encompass the history of an entire label’s roster instead of a single act, But like the other recent pieces of cinematic pop nostalgia set in the ’50s, and ’60s — previously about such figures as Ray Charles, Johnny Cash and the Supremes (thinly veiled in “Dreamgirls”) — the great music itself and fine thespian impressions of famous artists must compensate for predictable plotlines and cliche motifs.
Substance abuse, fragile temperaments, the ravages of fame, financial exploitation — it’s all here in this story of the rise and decline of music studio founder Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) and the legendary talents he nurtured at Chicago’s Chess Records. It’s the story of how sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll in the crossover culture morphed out of sex, drugs and the down-and-dirty blues.
With folk roots in the first half of the 20th century, the woeful, sensual songs of Southern sharecroppers came to the radio after World War II as so-called “race music.” Muddy Waters, brilliantly portrayed by Jeffrey Wright, moved from Mississippi to the Windy City, found himself a tolerant woman (Gabrielle Union), met up with the ambitious then-club owner Leonard, and honed a genre that would seize the charts and the “chitlin” circuit.
The original “Hoochie Coochie Man” along with Muddy’s hotheaded harmonica player Little Walter (Columbus Short), his main songwriter Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer) and his chief rival at the label, Howlin’ Wolf (a memorably ferocious figure as played by Eamonn Walker), were the towering stars at Chess. But then a randy guitar player with a twangy backbeat came along. Chuck Berry (in a sassy performance by Mos Def) transforms the sound and makes it accessible to the huge emerging generation of white baby boomers.
Meanwhile, the paternalistic white Mr. Chess has a complicated relationship with his black artists at a time before and during the civil rights movement. He genuinely cares about them, showers them with Cadillacs and pocket money. But he also essentially owned them — or at least their creative output.
Written and directed by Darnell Martin (1994’s “I Like It Like That”) and executive produced by Beyonce Knowles, who takes a secondary supporting role as singer/junkie Etta James, the choppy and simplistic “Cadillac Records” spins along thanks to the classic tunes, often covered with flair and accuracy by the actors themselves.
Quick info
“Cadillac Records”
3 out of 5 Stars
Stars: Adrien Brody, Beyonce Knowles, Jeffrey Wright
Director: Darnell Martin
Rated R for pervasive language and some sexuality.
Running Time: 107 minutes
