Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-22 21:13:58

Great story

Yes it was a little slow in parts, but I just couldn't turn it off once it started. I loved the characters and really cared about them. I never was in the rural south during the 50s, although I spent some time in Fort Benning, Georgia in 1951, but it sure felt like I was there during this movie. Danny Glover was made for the part and Stacy Keach was unforgettable as the sheriff. I would put this in a class like "Cinema Paradiso", just a gem of a movie. I loved the music also.

Nat Williams 2012-05-22 01:14:40

Vaguely interesting, but plodding and too long

I got "Honeydripper" based on the sleeve information, which made itseem like it might be interesting in the same way that the excellentSamuel L. Jackson vehicle "Black Snake Moan" was. The movie did keep myattention somewhat, but I was disappointed with its slow pace andmeandering nature. Plus, the director could have done a better job ofdepicting basic elements of the plot. For instance, on the "big night"that is supposed to be making money for the club, there appears to beabout 12 to 15 people in the nightclub. I don't think he could havemade enough money to pay expenses on that. Anyway, I guessdisappointment is my basic reaction. If you're interested in blues inthe integrated Deep South, check out the aforementioned "Black SnakeMoan." It is a superior movie.

hawkstepgins 2012-05-20 07:17:00

Good show, worth music alone.

The movie was enjoyable. Only complaint would be that it moved slowly,and with a two-hour length ... made it seem quite long. Reasonableplot, well composed, well acted & directed. The supporting actress forthe character of China Doll had some very good moments. Tighter editingand better pacing would have made it much much better. It is not thebest film in the world, but of good quality and very much worthwatching - it will probably fall under the radar for Hollywood and thegeneral populace.The really outstanding thing was the music. While not a musical, itdoes stop whole-heartedly to focus on the performers and the music.Think "Black Snake Moan" but without repeated cuts/editing. Those wholove blues, six-count blues and early rock-and-roll will likely enjoythe film. I intend to get the soundtrack. It apparently includes RuthBrown's final recording, as well as work by Dr. Mable John & Keb' Mo.Newcomer Gary Clark Jr., a Texan actor and musician shows goodpotential. Although this performance at Chicago and New Your musicfestivals last year (with the "Honeydripper All-Stars" promoting thefilm) have larger dynamic and vitality to them. His performance of thesong China Doll, which John Salyes apparently wrote/co-wrote, is on theother hand quite entertaining.

Redcitykev 2012-05-19 16:41:21

A marvellous evocation of the early just before Rock met Roll!

In one review I wrote recently I said that some films come along with abig reputation that leave you feeling "yeh, so what". On the flip-sideof that coin there are other films which very nearly slipped under thedistribution network, little gems that you almost missed, but were sopleased that you didn't. Honeydripper is one such film. Released in theUK a few months back it has hardly been seen outside of London - I cannot recall it even having been screen anywhere in my nearest big city,Bristol, yet, with luck and great foresight, the film club in my ownlittle town of Clevedon decided to screen the film as the climax to the'07/'08 season. Was I pleased that we decided to show this little gemof movie! The actual screening attracted people not only from Clevedonitself but from all round the district, and even as far as Birmingham -about 150 miles away! On to the film itself. It is a simple story, somemay even say clichéd to a fault, about a little lounge bar that is onthe verge of going under if it can not raise $200 by Monday, leavingthe owners with a big problem. This problem they hope to solve byhaving a well known radio star - Guitar Sam - play and pack the houseout, but, naturally, things do not go quite as planned until a youngguitar picker by the name of Sonny rolls into town and... Plus there isthe figure of a blind bluesman acting like a Greek Chorus, andconscience of Pinetop.That is basically it, add in the cotton field, the near-by militarycamp,a real sod of a sheriff and some pretty women, plus some of thebest blues and early R&B that you can wish to hear and there is yourfilm. So what sets this film above many others released this year.Well, the settings feel authentic, you can feel the heat in the cottonfields, you can smell the damp in the lounge and you can see the lookof desperation in the eyes of some, hope in others, as the storyprogresses. The acting is, as one would expect from such a cast, quitewonderful. Danny Glover is outstanding as Pinetop Purvis, withexcellent back up by Lisa Gay Hamilton as his wife and, all cutenessand hope for the future, Yaya DaCosta as China Doll. Then there is GaryClark Jr as Sonny, confident, proud and, oh boy, he can play! Anotheroutstanding performance comes from Stacey Keach as the sheriff, asnasty as Southern sheriffs come.Director John Sayles has fashioned a film in which the simple nature ofthe story allows for many issues to be tackled in a way which isenlighten but never preachy. The casual racism of the day, the role ofwomen, the way religion is interwoven into everyday life, and thepassing of one generation to the next are all dealt with here. This isbest seen by the passing of Bertha May, superbly played with suchdignity by Dr Mable John, an old blues singer who in seen in theopening scenes of the film playing to bar empty apart from a couple ofwinos and Pinetop and his family. Later, when Sonny lets rip, we seethe place jumping, and the new generation, the generation that wouldgive us Bo Diddly, Little Richard, Fats Domino etc and give the worldRock 'n' Roll - with a little help from a few white fellas! Is it anycoincidence that the guitar that Sonny plays is very similar to thehome made guitars that were the trademark of Bo Diddly - I think not,nor is the fact that his sound is not dissimilar to that of LouisJordan - another great that played the type of R'n'B that we hear here.I feel that the film can easily be read as a homage to these, and allthose that strove to move the music forward and spread it out of thecotton fields and small lounge bars onto the radio, the jukeboxes and,eventually across the globe.Finally a brief word on the music itself. This has to be the mostauthentic sounding music of this era that I can ever recall hearing ina film. Some of it is real, but the rest has been recorded for thefilm, and I would bet that only an expert could tell the difference! Itis not only the Blues and the R'n'B music, but also the Black Gospelwhich is very moving and powerful. This is one soundtrack that I willbe adding for sure to my collection! John Sayles has made a film ofreal beauty here, one which needs and deserves a wider distributionwithin in this country. If you have not yet seen it then look out forthe rare screenings of it - it needs the big screen with a good soundsystem to really get the full benefit of this little gem!

2012-05-19 16:02:40

Authentic southern Blues story

This review is from: Honeydripper (DVD) Having lived in the south for many years, "Honeydripper" was a nostalgic trip for us. Thought the acting excellent for the most part. Certainly the setting rang true. There is a long wait for the music, but the reward is worth it.

2012-05-19 02:41:26

Not to be missed film

Just loved this film, although the story was pretty predictable, the music was outstanding. The cinematography was compelling and filled with great actors. Everyone left the theater with a smile on their face and their toes tapping. Try not to miss this one!

JazzZ 2012-05-18 04:31:05

Be warned! You may want to pull your hair out!

I have to admit I went into this movie thinking I was going to get a dose of great blues music ...especially the way they were advertising Keb Mo!! But be warned, this movie is as slow as molasses as far getting to the plot. You will have to wade through what seemed like two or three gospel songs and at least four or five reflective stories of "I remember whens.." that, to me, were very uninteresting to the point of wanting to pull my hair out or shoot myself. Finally in the last five minutes of the movie you will get some pretty good blues music, sans Keb Mo. Keb does play about two or three times during the movie for about six to ten awesome cords. Overall it was very disappointing.

2012-05-17 15:36:35

It is all about the music

In an era when the southern blues are giving way to rock and roll,this is a story of a small cotton town.The young guitar player comes in riding the rails, the older piano player is running (badly) the honeydipper club.The story is about the coming together of the forces in the town to make something new."Time to make way for what is coming next."I liked the plot and the music here.

ShootingShark 2012-05-16 21:36:32

Touching, Skilfully-Made Drama Of Small-Town Nightclub With Outstanding Cast

In rural Alabama in 1950, Tyrone "Pinetop" Purvis is struggling to makeends meet at his club, The Honeydripper. With too many bills due, hepins all his hopes on promoting a show by the popular Guitar Sam. Butwhen Sam doesn't turn up, Pinetop hatches a crazy scheme to run theconcert anyway …Another richly observed, well written and beautifully acted perioddrama by Sayles, sort of a companion piece to Matewan. Its strengthsare many; an interesting story with great characters - we want Pinetopto come through despite his faults - excellent photography and terrificmusic from that great shifting period between blues and rock and roll.Best of all is the incredibly talented cast, all of whom bring a richindividuality to their roles; I especially like Dutton and Hamilton,but contemporary bluesman Keb' Mo' pretty much steals the show asPossum, the mysterious blind geetar-picker. It's one of a few movieswhich successfully mixes actors and musicians in the cast, eachbringing out the best in the other, and Sayles' regular composer MasonDaring's music is a enchanting mix of old standards cleverly interwovenwith new material. There are many terrific scenes - Delilah swaying inthe revival tent as she struggles with her faith, Pinetop's story ofthe servant left alone with the master's piano, Sonny singing MidnightSpecial in his jail cell, all the cotton-fields scenes. Artfully shotby British cameraman Dick Pope in authentic Alabama locations, this isone of those well-crafted, truly American movies, which provides a richhistorical escape into a colourful and fascinating landscape. Thedirector appears in one of his usual minor roles as theclipboard-carrying no-nonsense liquor salesman.

les6969 2012-05-16 13:13:07

Good but not Great

This film has it's moments and there is a lot going on. It is an inciteinto early Rock and Roll and the fact that it was black singers andmusicians and not Elvis who started it all off. It shows the racism andcorrupt attitudes of the deep south and there is a little loveinterest. Danny Glover is outstanding as is Stacey Keech but all thesupport roles are also really well done. My only criticism about thisfilm is that it doesn't really go anywhere. At the end I was left withan empty feeling with so many unanswered questions. What happened tothe young guitar/singer after that weekend? Who was that blind manexactly? ( if he was blind, he gave the Danny Glover character aknowing nod at the gig ) Whay didn't the Stacey Keech character exposethe boy as not Guitar Sam? ( Money I am guessing? ) I think this was agood film and it kept my attention but it could have been grittier anda better ending.

J 2012-05-15 01:16:33

The King of Rock

A good story that wasnt told till now! Even if Kel Mitchell didnt have a lil part in this movie, it was still good! It tells us about a part of history that isnt much known nowadays! Danny Glover is always a good actor!

Cliff Sloane 2012-05-14 22:33:54

High-school level story hidden behind great music

This is a story right out of the "Hey, kids, let's put on a show!"cliché. One implausibility piled on top of another in a "feelgood"/"right will triumph" pattern that is SO OVERWHELMINGLY dominantin American movies. John Sayles has long been one of my favoritedirectors/screenwriters, so the foolishness of this movie came as ashock.What happened? Where has the creator of "Casa de los Babys" and "LoneStar" gone? What happened to the creator of such exhilarating plots as"Limbo" and "Passion Fish"? I can only guess that he farmed it out toone of his kids, or an intern, or something like that. This movie fitsin more with the rush job of the Scorcese-produced blues films thanwith a Sayles project.Here is my "disclosure" statement. I have been a working musician andhave spent most of my adult life in the company of musicians. Thismovie reveals some of the biggest complaints musicians have about theirportrayal by non-musicians. The biggest is that non-musicians don'tunderstand the role of rehearsals, individual practice and the hugeamount of work and effort it takes to seem "talented." This movie isanother example, and a rather extreme case at that.I also have a question for Keb Mo. Why do you sign on to so manyprojects that undervalue your efforts? I am thinking of the NPR BluesHistory radio series and now this. Don't you have more leverage thanthat?

2012-05-13 00:39:29

Dissapointed

This is the first film I've seen by John Sayles, whom I've heard good things about over the years. Unfortunately it will be my last. Other reviewers refer to this film as "leisurly paced" and "takes time with character development." The scenes ARE played far too slow, the actors need to pick up the pace, the edits need to move faster. I gave it a chance, I sat through the entire thing, but not only was it boring, it was predictable. I was drawn to this movie due to the subject matter, but it was highly unrealistic. Despite its PG13 rating this IS a family picture, pure "fabricated history" ala Walt Disney television movies from the early 60s. This is a good movie for families with young children who wish to create revisionist history for their kids to protect them from the harsh realities of the Black experience in the American Rural South of the early 1950s. Overall the acting is good, the characters are well cast, but it's obvious they were encouraged with their slow delivery of lines to the point where it almost seems Gary Clark Jr. is actually trying to remember his next line. During the opening credits it says written, directed and edited by John Sayles...it would have been better if someone else had edited the film and would have been better still if someone else had directed it.

Mark Specht 2012-05-12 11:53:36

The worst, most boring, poorly made professional film I have ever seen.

This film is painfully slow and uninteresting. The dialog is brutal.The characters uninteresting. I have seen thousands of films, and thishorrendous product should have ended the career of John Sayles. Sayles'Eight Men Out is among the most boring modern baseball films, butHoneydripper is at the very bottom of its genre.... and of all filmmaking. There are countless good films about race relations in thesouthern United States, and this is not among them. Young directors andwriters should watch this as how *not* to make a film. Danny Glover,Charles Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacey Keach, Sean Patrick Thomas,what *were* you thinking? There are always other movies to see insteadof this one. See them all, then hesitate before renting Honeydripper.

C 2012-05-12 08:58:44

Delightful movie

It is one of those movies, where the word predictable will be a common part of many reviews, but at the same time the movie was quite delightful. It was reminiscent of a nice fiction book, with some real themes in it. Danny Glover was great, and the young guitar player was fabulous. I enjoyed the film.

2012-05-11 18:14:49

Cliche's and bad historical fiction - blues fans don't bother

I was looking very forward to this movie, the cover made me think it would be about a guy playing cigar box guitar, but no, its some sort of modern looking pseudo-hobbled-together guitar. It uses modern cigar box pickups with an Epiphone or Gibson neck. Check out wikipedia to get an idea of what was happening in guitars in 30's to 50's.Aside from that, the first half hour is full of cliches - did the writer actually do any research on Alabama in the 1950's? Not even a trace of accent, a mixture of 30's and 70's clothing, the actors use phrasings which are contemporary. I laughed for the first 45 mins or so. The whole thing rolls out like a 50's version of "Booty Time", except Booty time was a lot funnier. Should I say, somebody's fantasy of the 50's?The entire plot "situation" is painfully foreshadowed, we know from the first 15 minutes how this is going to end.The whitey sheriff who likes Glover's wife's cooking (apparently she invents KFC), reminds you of "Smokey and The Bandit", which may have served as research material.What movie about blacks would be complete without a rich white women donating an un-useable dress to her maid: I was surprised it wasn't torn, but it was too small...There were a few genuine moments, but this movie is a bit too Disney - a fantasy world somebody cooked up. Some of the scenes have a surreal look and the featuring of a few big name performers was nice.

2012-05-11 12:28:56

x

a great family move, wounderful look into the blues and rock-n-roll era. ther was action adventure history and most important romance.

2012-05-10 16:59:14

A great look at the pre-Elvis music scene in the south!

I love movies that provide insight in how 20th-century American music developed in the transitional period between the heyday of blues and the coming of rock and roll! It's fascinating to see, looking back, how people were dumbfounded at the idea of an electric guitar ("How does it make a sound? There's no soundhole!") The 50's and 60's were definitely the most exciting decades for being a musician--new ideas, musical styles and technology were developing at rapid speeds all over the place. What this movie does is provide an insight in how these kind of changes impacted a smalltown community in the south in 1950. The famous Guitar Sam (a character very obviously inspired by real blues artist Guitar Slim) backs out on a gig at the Honeydripper. No problem, some local upstart kid with an electric guitar can fill in for him--as Guitar Sam! The people in the community are so technologically deprived that they don't even know what Guitar Sam looks like, even though they eagerly flock to the club to see him perform!Danny Glover does a great job in portraying the down-on-his-luck club owner, who needs to free himself of debt and his own demons stemming from an incident in his past. Keb Mo also does a great job in playing the guitar-playing character who embodies these demons.Great music from Keb Mo and the other artists who supply the music. The piano playing during the end credits is some of the best blues piano playing you will ever hear! Fantastic! Great movie! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

2012-05-10 05:49:49

Honeydripper a movie you can enjoy

This review is from: Honeydripper (DVD) I really liked how John Sayles went about making this movie and the actingwas very impressive. There are plently of sub plots that are going on while the main plot unfolds and to give some props to the director and the actors they pull it off without a hitch. This movie is a pleasure to watchand I recommend the movie Honeydripper highly.

along-23 2012-05-09 09:43:39

sweet musical trip down south

OK, let me say right off the bat I am a little biased. This film wasshot here in Alabama, and most of it was filmed right here in my homecounty of Butler. One of my high school classmate's son is featuredthroughout the movie as "Lonnie" and other folks I know served asextras or performed as part of the choir.And I loved seeing the people and places I know up on the big screen. Ithink Maggie and John are "da bomb." The woman is a hugger; I love thatwarmth. John's the most down-to-earth guy.That being said, I can also honestly report to you "Honeydripper" is agood movie - not perfect, but very much worth seeing. I think DannyGlover is sensational in the lead role as Pine Top and he and CharlesDutton are totally believable as two old pals fighting the odds to savePine Top's blues club. Keb' Mo' is delightful as the "Greek Chorus"known as Possum, a mysterious and witty blind guitarist.If you love blues music and early rock 'n' roll; if you enjoy a storythat takes its time, one filled with complex characters and somememorable lines penned by Sayles - a movie made with love and lots ofheart - then "Honeydripper" just might be for you.