William Pauley: Response to Idlewild

(William was confused about the assignment, but still did a good job of writing a review... remember everyone... as we iron out any confusion in the first week. You respond to the assigned films only.)

Idlewild (2006)
Director, Producer & Screenwriter: Bryan Barber



When I first heard the rumor that HBO was releasing a musical starring Outkast, arguably the best rap group of all time, I was just as excited as I was skeptical. I’ve learned, probably more than most, that you can’t believe everything you hear and this Outkast musical seemed to be one of those ideas that are shelved just as quickly as they were thought up. Fast-forward two years later, sitting on my couch flipping channels on the television looking for pretty much anything worth watching to pass the time, I stumble across the trailer for Idlewild. The trailer started off hilarious, showing Antwan “Big Boi” Patton’s character, Rooster, hustling money from his peers at an age no higher than 8 and finishing without detailing too much about the actual plot. But that was enough to get me to stand in line on opening night (August 25th).

The story takes place in a small Georgia town called Idlewild during the early 1930’s prohibition-era, focusing on two lifelong friends, Rooster and Percival (Andre Benjamin). Although the two end up leading two very different lives, Rooster becoming the heir to a swinging nightclub called The Church and Percival working alongside his father in the family’s mortuary business, one thing keeps them forever entangled: music. Rooster gives Percival a job at the nightclub playing piano as Rooster himself entertains the crowd with his clever southern drawl wordplays. The film’s villain comes in the form of Terrance Howard giving an outstanding performance as the sleazy Trumpy. Rooster’s business (and life) is at stake as Trumpy tries to collect a tremendous debt left by the previous club owner, Sunshine Ace, now left for him to pay. In an attempt to bring in more money, Rooster hires a famous performer, Angel Davenport (Paula Patton), to entertain for an entire month. During rehearsals Percival and Angel develop a love interest which ultimately ends up with Percival having to choose between her or his obligations to his father.

The movie is more musically and visually-driven than plot-driven. Making his big screen debut is writer/director Bryan Barber, who before only directed hip-hop music videos. Barber does an amazing job of making the movie visually impressive. I remember being particularly impressed with a chase scene involving Rooster and a gang of thugs set to Big Boi’s face-paced rap “Church”. The way the bullets were flying and the way the action would speed up and slow down made me think of the all-too-famous scene in the film The Matrix where Neo is on the roof dodging all the bullets in slow-motion, but done in such a way that made it very fresh and fitting, rather than something like a parody. The characters in the film never broke out into song for no reason at all, like many other musicals. Most of the songs were performed on a stage for purposes of entertaining the club’s audience and all of the songs were properly used for telling the story. By that I mean that none of the songs were just thrown in the mix because it was a good song, but rather because it was very important for showing the emotions of each character. The most emotional scene of the film is highlighted tremendously by Andre Benjamin’s song “She Lives In My Lap”. Without it, the scene would have seemed very dull and definitely wouldn’t have had the emotional impact it has now. The majority of the musical numbers featured comes from Outkast’s 2003 album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and their 2006 album also titled Idlewild.

I think the fact that the film was shelved for a couple of years was actually beneficial to the movie’s success. There have been several times when I have been initially let down because of my high expectations for a film, but later go back and watch it again and find that the movie really wasn’t that bad, it was just that I was expecting something different. Because of the delay, my thoughts of the possibilities subsided, allowing me to go into the theater clear-minded and because of that I came out tapping my toes and craving more. What you have to keep in mind is that Idlewild is not a movie to dissect, what you see is what you get. There are no hidden meanings or head-scratching puzzles to try and figure out, only a simple story with amazing music and great eye candy. Expect nothing more than that and I am sure you will find it very entertaining.