Cadillac Records: A Review

The eagerly anticipated Cadillac Records hit theatres on December 5. The movie charts the rise of the iconic Chicago-based Chess Records.The film is narrated by Cedric the Entertainer who plays Willie Dixon, the hit maker who worked alongside the artists at Chess Records. Cedric's easy going baritone voice carries the film in and out of the highs and lows of the Chess Record family which consisted of Muddy Waters (Jeffrey Wright), Little Walter (Columbus Short), Chuck Berry (Mos Def), Howlin' Wolf (Eamonn Walker), and Etta James (Beyonce Knowles).

Cadillac Records follows Leonard Chess, played by Adrian Brody as he goes from small time nightclub owner to record label owner. With the help of Waters, a sharecropper who migrates from Mississippi to Chicago, Chess lays the music foundation for rock and roll and puts Chicago on the map. Chess enjoys the good life and likes to share it with his artists. The film gets its name from the face that Chess often surprised his artists with new Cadillac cars. Unbeknownst to them, he paid for the cars with the money he made from their hit records. Not a total bad buy, while also not a saint, Brody makes you root for Chess, despite his less than honorable business dealing.

Cadillac Records focusesprimarily with Chess' relationship with his first artist, Waters. The pair rises together, making music and a name for themselves. Waters is a womanizer who drinks too much, yet manages to maintain a relatively stable relationship with his long suffering, ever-loyal wife, Geneva (Gabrielle Union). Union is convincing as the "stand by your man wife and has several moving scenes with Wright and Short. This supporting role shows that Union has the potential to be a great dramatic actress. And the always on point Wright is flawless in his portrayal of Waters.

The unexpected surprise in the movie is the electrifying performance of Columbus Short in the role of Little Walter, Waters mentee, protégé and surrogate son. Short has delivered solid performances before, notably in This Christmas and Stomp the Yard, but he takes his acting to the next level in Cadillac. Little Walter was spirited from the beginning. But the death of his mother sends him reeling into a dangerous pattern of drinking and drugging. Short plays Walter as wild and reckless, but never over the top. As he careens from the outrageous (shooting a man for impersonating him) to the more outrageous (driving around town in a doorless Cadillac), Short exhibits the characteristics of an A-list actor in the making.

Despite the popularity of Waters and Walter, they two do not achieve the mainstream success that Chess longs for. Enter Chuck Berry. Mos Def is hilarious as Berry who skyrockets to the top of the charts. But his success is cut short when he is arrested and incarcerated for carrying a minor across state lines.

To salvage the label and his quest for a crossover hit, Chess signs the spitfire Etta James. Portrayed by megastar Beyonce Knowles, James gives the label the success that Chess longed for. Beyonce has definitely grown as an actress since her acting debut in MTV's Carmen: A Hip Opera. However, her best scenes are the musical performances, namely the heart-wrenching "All I Could Do Is Cry." Despite a valiant effort, Beyonce's best work remains in the recording studio.

The film, which is written and directed by Darnell Martin, also boast a supporting cast with Walker as the imposing Howlin' Wolf and Emmanuelle Chriqui as Chess' wife. Overall, the film provides a brief history lesson to a generation who may not know the impact these artists made on rock and roll. And where the film has minor flaws (Martin takes some creative liberties i.e. the absence of Chess' brother Phil), it more than makes up for in solid acting, a great story and amazing music performers (all the actors sing their own songs).