Idlewild
It would be very easy to class this as a vanity project, and given the way OutKast's two leading men dress, vanity would not be understating the case. Of course, musicians crossing over into the world of movies has been going on for years with varying degrees of success. In the pre-MTV days legends such as Elvis and The Beatles made movies to promote new songs, and movies like KID CREOLE and A HARD DAY'S NIGHT have even stood the test of time. Other musicians, Mick Jagger, David Bowie, Sting, Roger Daltry, opted for purely dramatic roles, again with varying degrees of success. More recently it is rap and hip-hop singers that have been expanding their careers onto the screen, and with their blustering being mostly an act it seems like a natural progression.
OutKast's videos were certainly different to most of the other hip-hop promos, avoiding the urban bump and grind of scantily-clad booty. Theirs were major production numbers reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood musicals so it seemed logical for Bryan Barber, the director of those pop-videos, to want to move onto something more substantial, so he wrote IDLEWILD as a vehicle for OutKast's multi-discipline talents.
Set in a world of a 1930s prohibition era Southern speakeasy, the film follows the lives of the club’s shy piano player, Percival (André Benjamin), and his childhood friend, the club’s showy lead performer and ladies’ man, Rooster (Antwan Patton). Following the death of the club's owner at the hands of ambitious mobster Trumpy (Terrence Howard) Rooster is made manager and it is up to him to keep the club running without giving control of it to Trumpy. At the same time singing sensation Angel (Paula Patton) arrives at the club, with a four-week contract, and Percival, who works in his father's funeral parlour during the day, falls for her.
Like most musicals, the story is fairly inconsequential, which does not mean it is overpoweringly weak but it doesn't break new ground looking like BUGSY MALONE meets HARLEM NIGHTS. It does have its good share of characters that attracted some of the cream of America's black performing community, with the likes of Ving Rhames, Faizon Love, Bill Nunn, Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson and divas Macy Gray and Patti LaBelle. Even amongst this distinguished cast Benjamin and Patton give very convincing performances, with first-time actor Patton being surprisingly good.
Of course their main strength is their music, which is what the film is really all about. There are new songs and some from previous albums as well as fresh interpretations of songs by Bessie Smith and Cab Calloway. There is also some amazing dancing, a hybrid of swing and hip-hop, called swop, choreographed Hinton Battle. This is high-energy movement that works perfectly with the music to give the film and added sense of theatricality and fantasy.
The film should have a fairly wide appeal, from OutKast's legions of fans to lovers of musicals and romantic comedies. It has a bit of everything (except horror and sci-fi) and while it may not be the best movie of the year it looks like being the most vibrant musical. If you overlook the fairly standard story it is fantastic entertainment, which is a good reason to go to the cinema. And it looks great too.
IDLEWILD from UIP/Universal Pictures opens in the UK and Ireland on October 13 2006.
OutKast's videos were certainly different to most of the other hip-hop promos, avoiding the urban bump and grind of scantily-clad booty. Theirs were major production numbers reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood musicals so it seemed logical for Bryan Barber, the director of those pop-videos, to want to move onto something more substantial, so he wrote IDLEWILD as a vehicle for OutKast's multi-discipline talents.
Set in a world of a 1930s prohibition era Southern speakeasy, the film follows the lives of the club’s shy piano player, Percival (André Benjamin), and his childhood friend, the club’s showy lead performer and ladies’ man, Rooster (Antwan Patton). Following the death of the club's owner at the hands of ambitious mobster Trumpy (Terrence Howard) Rooster is made manager and it is up to him to keep the club running without giving control of it to Trumpy. At the same time singing sensation Angel (Paula Patton) arrives at the club, with a four-week contract, and Percival, who works in his father's funeral parlour during the day, falls for her.
Like most musicals, the story is fairly inconsequential, which does not mean it is overpoweringly weak but it doesn't break new ground looking like BUGSY MALONE meets HARLEM NIGHTS. It does have its good share of characters that attracted some of the cream of America's black performing community, with the likes of Ving Rhames, Faizon Love, Bill Nunn, Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson and divas Macy Gray and Patti LaBelle. Even amongst this distinguished cast Benjamin and Patton give very convincing performances, with first-time actor Patton being surprisingly good.
Of course their main strength is their music, which is what the film is really all about. There are new songs and some from previous albums as well as fresh interpretations of songs by Bessie Smith and Cab Calloway. There is also some amazing dancing, a hybrid of swing and hip-hop, called swop, choreographed Hinton Battle. This is high-energy movement that works perfectly with the music to give the film and added sense of theatricality and fantasy.
The film should have a fairly wide appeal, from OutKast's legions of fans to lovers of musicals and romantic comedies. It has a bit of everything (except horror and sci-fi) and while it may not be the best movie of the year it looks like being the most vibrant musical. If you overlook the fairly standard story it is fantastic entertainment, which is a good reason to go to the cinema. And it looks great too.
IDLEWILD from UIP/Universal Pictures opens in the UK and Ireland on October 13 2006.
posted by Chris Patmore at 9:51 PM
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