Also and I know it is a movie, but is it fairly accurate?

scriptgirl said:

no

Its hollywood, NONE of their biopics are accurate.

But do rent it at least for Mos Def & Jeffrey Wright, I think you're gonna enjoy them the most.

Quite frankly, I would watch it on cable.

What kind of cable do you have?
It was on Comcast ONDemand under free movies.
That was the only reason I watched it.

nooooo

shorttrini said:

Yep. If you don't have cable, go over someones home who does. Take a six pack of something.

Harlepolis said:

i enjoyed the movie. i was very impressed with Columbus Short's performance as Little Walter.

Very inacurate, so keep that in mind while watching. The best thing the film could do would be to inspire people to go out and buy some Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, Etta James, Chuck Berry, and other Chess Records legends, and experience some of the greatest music ever made in this country

Who is Little Walter?

TD3 said:

I agree. Not a bad movie, but not a great one.
[Edited 1/16/10 21:45pm]

scriptgirl said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...tle_Walter

The link above will give you some info on him.

scriptgirl said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...tle_Walter

Hell. F*ck. No!!!

No. It's short and all over the place

Yeah. It's pretty good, everyone gave a good performance. A dramatization, but accurate enough. The main problem with the movie is that it's too short to fit all the events chronicled.

ratchetchan said:

I do agree, however I thought for my dollar worth I paid at the redbox I definitley got an enjoyable flick AND I got to learn alot about Chess and how important they were to the industry.


I recommend it, nothig over $5 though...a nice sit back and kick it rental.

I couldn't believe there was no Bo Diddley character in the film even though they used his song throughout the movie. (I also cannot believe this is the second time I mentioned Diddley on the org today). Critics went to town about the inaccuracies of this film.

I did enjoy the movie for the performances, though. Even Beyonce had one good scene (in the restaurant). Beyonce should have lip synched to Etta's voice, IMO. She just could not pull off the soulful rendering needed to make her character and story more believable.

bettybop said:

There should have also been some attention to Minnie Riperton and the Rotary Connection. As well as some other key acts... meh. There was supposed to be another Chess movie in the works.

That would have been a failure because Beyoncé and Etta have completely different tones, and it would have been hilariously clear. It also would have been embarrassing. Also, Darnell Martin had her (as well as the rest of the cast) sing "like Beyoncé, but with the sensibility of the music from that period", not like Etta.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi...ype=movies

i thought it was pretty decent.

ratchetchan said:

The reason why there was no mention of "Rotary Connection" is due to the fact, they were signed by Leon's son, and not Leon. He had nothing to do with them.

ratchetchan said:

It was a major disconnect to me when in the story line she is supposed to do a take of "I'd Rather Go Blind" that soooo heart-wrenching but instead of soul, all she can manage is hollering. Just awful....totally took me *out of* the movie! So, in that respect, her being cast as Etta was a failure to me. But hey, she produced the movie so....

bettybop said:

I found her interpretation of the song, not bad at all. and if that's all it took to "get you out of the movie", then maybe you expect way too much. This was a movie that was made in Hollywood, where people take "poetic license" with certain things.

shorttrini said:

Or maybe it took me out of the movie because I didn't believe a damn word coming out of her mouth? As I remember it, she was supposed to have blown away everyone in the room when she sang that particular song and it just didn't work for me. I hadn't even heard Etta's version before seeing the movie and it still felt flat to me. This is the first movie where I found Beyonce more believable when she acted and didn't sing. If it worked for you, great!
[Edited 1/20/10 20:13pm]

sosgemini said:

I thought it was entertaining.

bettybop said:

Her singing "Church Bells" and Columbus Short's portrayal of Lil' Walter, were the highlights of this movie, for me.There were allot of things that were left out of this film, simply because this was a movie that was written by the director based on stories. Leonard's brother Philip, his partner at Chess, was not mentioned anywhere in this film. This tells me that the director wanted to concentrate more on the performances than the acting.

shorttrini said:

Again, I'm glad whatever worked for you, worked for you. A decent film, good in parts, with a lot of inaccuracies. That's my take.

From the hype, I actually thought the movie was "the Etta James Story" so when I watched it my expectations were very low. Not that Etta James isn't good, but I don't really care to watch a whole movie about her or a whole movie starring Beyonce.

So I was pleasantly surprised and I actually kind of enjoyed it once I figured out it was about Chess records. That's a movie worth making.

As a movie it was just okay, a little ridiculous & unbelievable, but taken with a grain of salt it was not a complete waste of time.

The actors are pretty good, and as Beyonce only has a small role, she's tolerable, too.

I got the DVD from the public library after missing it when it was in the theaters. I've gotta say that I'm glad I didn't spend money to see it. It wasn't BAD, but I was disappointed because I rather expected a bit more. The music was good, the acting was good, but something was just MISSING. I was familiar with all the musicians portrayed in the film and am a big fan of Etta James' earlier work (from this era and somewhat later; got most of her music, too) and I didn't have a problem with Beyonce's portrayal. The movie is worth seeing---for free.