Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on February 5th, 2006
The concept of the musical biopic is nothing new. We have seen many films come and go, some good and some bad. A majority of these musical biopic films try to tell the rising of a group, whether or not the group is a reality, in a manner that will connect with the audience. Robert Townsend’s The Five Heartbeats is a prime example of a film that connects with its audience by taking this concept of the musical biopic just that one step further than we might expect from a film like this.
The Five Hea...tbeats are a nineteen-sixties Motown type singing group that consists of lead singer Eddie (Michael Wright), songwriter ‘Duck’ Matthews (Robert Townsend), ladies’ man J.T. Matthews (Leon), bassman ‘Dresser’ Williams (Harry J. Lennix), and tenor ‘Choirboy’ Stone (Tico Wells). These guys start out by singing on streets corners. Enter big shot manager (Chuck Patterson). Potter nails them a record deal and gets them to perform everywhere leading to super exposure and stardom. Naturally with stardom, comes the rocky road one travels on. The road consists of internal conflict between the band members and producers, drug addiction, racism, and even a close death. This all occurs before the groups untimely end in the mid nineteen-seventies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 7th, 2005
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Things don’t get much more anodyne than this storyline, showcasing an impossibly idealized family and their trials of love and prize pigs as they travel to the eponymous event. This is strictly for the nostalgic and pure fans of Rodgers and Hammerstein (the songs generally are not as culturally engrained as those of Oklahoma!). There are two versions of the film here, and the 1945 take is easily the better of the two. The 1962 remake (and the third film by this name, a non-musical ver...ion having appeared in 1933) has Pat Boone in the lead (never a good sign) and is even more plastic. This version does, however, have Ann-Margaret pulling a bit of a show-stopper with her dance number.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 31st, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 6th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on February 25th, 2005
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on November 3rd, 2004
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on July 9th, 2004
This is an odd little film, indeed. The best way that I can describe it is as a cross between Bowfinger and a James Bond film. It is billed as a comedy, but the first half-hour is clearly drama. Of course, when the comedy portion does come in, it’s not funny either. The plot is surprisingly complex, but at its core, it involves a movie production that accidentally captures a crime taking place on film. Now the criminals are after the crew.
Truth be told, this might have turned out to have been a pret...y decent little script after 20 or 30 re-writes. There are elements of action, mystery and comedy that could have been developed into something at least as entertaining as The Tuxedo. Unfortunately, however, those re-writes were not performed, and what we have here is a rough draft caught on film.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 14th, 2004
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on June 3rd, 2004
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on May 9th, 2004
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