It's a musical biopic of the Chess Records company until the death of its owner in 1968. It follows the development of commercial blues music in Chicago through the eyes of Leonard Chess, Muddy Waters, and Willie Dixon.
The film opens with Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright) singing in the fields of Mississippi but soon follows him to Chicago as part of the great migration. Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) operates a jazz club in Southside Chicago and begins to produce records. Muddy Waters is his first blues artist. We also meet Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), who narrates part of the movie, Little Walter (Columbus Short), Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Chuck Berry (Yaslin Bey), and Etta James (Boyoncé).
"Cadillac Records" suggests that Chess, a white man, essentially cheated his African American singers through shady contracts. He often bought them Cadillac cars, not telling them that he bought them with their royalties.
"Cadillac Records" musical score is fantastic, especially Boyoncé as Etta James and Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf. I thought Jeffrey Wright didn't quite have the edge of Muddy Waters. Much of the "history" is creative nonfiction. The movie compresses many events and leaves out many nuances. It implies a focus of Chess Records on blues that didn't exist. Adrien Brody makes Leonard Chess an unlikeable man; that was probably an intent that succeeded. "Cadillac Records" clearly shows the place of alcohol and drugs in the blues world.
The film's editing feels choppy at points as it tries to jam 25-30 years of events into coherence. But it all comes back to the great music.
The film opens with Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright) singing in the fields of Mississippi but soon follows him to Chicago as part of the great migration. Leonard Chess (Adrien Brody) operates a jazz club in Southside Chicago and begins to produce records. Muddy Waters is his first blues artist. We also meet Willie Dixon (Cedric the Entertainer), who narrates part of the movie, Little Walter (Columbus Short), Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker), Chuck Berry (Yaslin Bey), and Etta James (Boyoncé).
"Cadillac Records" suggests that Chess, a white man, essentially cheated his African American singers through shady contracts. He often bought them Cadillac cars, not telling them that he bought them with their royalties.
"Cadillac Records" musical score is fantastic, especially Boyoncé as Etta James and Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf. I thought Jeffrey Wright didn't quite have the edge of Muddy Waters. Much of the "history" is creative nonfiction. The movie compresses many events and leaves out many nuances. It implies a focus of Chess Records on blues that didn't exist. Adrien Brody makes Leonard Chess an unlikeable man; that was probably an intent that succeeded. "Cadillac Records" clearly shows the place of alcohol and drugs in the blues world.
The film's editing feels choppy at points as it tries to jam 25-30 years of events into coherence. But it all comes back to the great music.