“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.