Tagline: “Chicago 1950: Sex had a sound. Danger had a rhythm. And freedom had a music all its own.”
Translation: Eh.
The Verdict: Despite an awesome cast — including Beyoncé, Jeffrey Wright, Mos Def, and, we guess, Adrien Brody — Cadillac Records still doesn’t quite feel like the spiritual sequel to Dreamgirls that it was likely intended to be. Maybe we’re burned out on musical biopics. Or, maybe, in a time when the real-life music business has all but ceased to exist (thanks in no small part to greed and hilarious financial mismanagement), we’re finding it slightly hard to get excited about a movie that looks back fondly on hilarious record-label mismanagement. Plus, were there really women dropping babies off at Muddy Waters’ house? Also, did all five members of the Rolling Stones really once show up unannounced at Muddy Waters’ studio, only to find that he’d never heard of them? Seems unlikely is all.
