Idlewild

Do musicians get the idea of ​​trying their hand at acting, and preferably with a film that is completely tailored to them? We've had it all before, the most emphatic memories are probably negative experiences with the creations of Britney Spears (Not A Girl), 50 Cent (Get Rich Or Die Tryin´) or Mariah Carey (“Glitter”), the few German ones Cinema viewers who have seen him for whatever reason may still be able to mention Daniel Küblböck's (Daniel - The Magician) appearance here. So there is actually a lot of skepticism when you approach “Idlewild”, the musical drama by André Benjamin and Antwan A. Patton alias Big Boi, better known under their group name Outkast. But these surprise with good ideas, at least partially existing acting talent and a good choice of style and staging. Unfortunately, they trip themselves up: As is so often the case with such productions, the story was drawn up on the basis of common motifs on the drawing board and is a real nuisance.

Idlewild, a small town somewhere in the south of the USA, at the time of Prohibition: Percival (André Benjamin) and Rooster (Big Boi) have been friends since they were little, although their lives could hardly be more different. Rooster was involved in his father's alcohol smuggling business as a young boy and gambled away the other kids in gambling as a ten-year-old. Percival, on the other hand, is under the strict wing of his father (Ben Vereen), an undertaker. Their common connection is the music that will connect them for years to come. Rooster, who is married and has numerous children, is still swarmed by women and is now the big number in Shunshine Ace's (Faizon Love) nightclub, while Single Percival works in his father's company, still lives under his father's supervision and only at night thanks to Rooster's intercession , a piece of his dream can come true. He plays the piano in the nightclub, if only according to instructions and not his own works, which he secretly composes in the attic. When Ace and business partner Spats (Ving Rhames) are shot dead by his ruthless right hand Trumpy (Terrence Howard), times change in Idlewild. Rooster takes over the nightclub, but is put under pressure by Trumpy. He increases the prices for alcohol and protection and Rooser knows only too well what his counterpart is capable of. At the time, Angel Davenport (Paula Patton) appeared at the nightclub, a celebrated star singer who was booked by Ace for several appearances. She brings light to Percival's life, who falls in love with the seemingly unreachable woman from the start.

Especially in the first 30 minutes, “Idlewild” is a wonderful piece of film. With a playful, never too serious staging, completely in the style of the public appearance of Outkast, not only fans will be spellbound. Old black and white pictures are used as well as stick figures on the music lines of the song sheets on a visual level for humorous, little jokes. Then there is the child actor Bobb'e J. Thompson (Final Call), who plays the young Rooster as a kind of mini-Al-Capone with wonderful overacting and excessive cockiness and so has the laughs on his side. In addition to the successful setting, the well-chosen costumes and the atmosphere created in this way, the playful staging proves to be the greatest plus point of “Idlewild” over the entire duration. This comes to the fore again and again, e.g. an animated tap on the Rooster hip flask becomes a "running gag" that communicates wonderfully with its owner (at least an absolute pleasure in the original English version).

Unfortunately, after the first half hour, the story begins to take hold. And as much as you can congratulate the guys from Outkast for finding a good choice for the production with their friend and longtime regular music video director Bryan Barber, just as much you will have to blame them for being one with the same man damn bad choice for the script. Because Barber's script is unimaginatively based on well-known set pieces. The cocky doer who first needs the right rainfall to recognize where the real meaning of life lies on the one hand and the shy introvert who, after the right impetus, manages to make his dream come true, on the other. The paths that have been mapped out for both of them from the start then really run without a single junction in precisely those paths that the genre provides for them. Even the fact that there are a few surprises in store for the character of the female lead Paula Patton does not work, because they are all announced so intrusively thatDo musicians get the idea to try their hand at acting, and preferably with a film that is completely tailored to them? We've had it all before, the most emphatic memories are probably negative experiences with the creations of Britney Spears (Not A Girl), 50 Cent (Get Rich Or Die Tryin´) or Mariah Carey (“Glitter”), the few German ones Cinema viewers who have seen him for whatever reason may be able to mention Daniel Küblböck (Daniel - The Magician) here. So there is actually a lot of skepticism when you approach “Idlewild”, the musical drama by André Benjamin and Antwan A. Patton alias Big Boi, better known under their group name Outkast. But these surprise with good ideas, at least partially existing acting talent and a good choice in style and staging. Unfortunately, they trip themselves up: As is so often the case with such productions, the story was drawn up on the basis of common motifs on the drawing board and is a real nuisance.

Idlewild, a small town somewhere in the south of the USA, at the time of Prohibition: Percival (André Benjamin) and Rooster (Big Boi) have been friends since they were little, although their lives could hardly be more different. Rooster was involved in his father's alcohol smuggling business as a young boy and gambled away from the other kids when he was ten. Percival, on the other hand, is under the strict wing of his father (Ben Vereen), an undertaker. Their common connection is the music that will connect them for years to come. Rooster, who is married and has numerous children, is still swarmed by women and is now the big number in Shunshine Ace's (Faizon Love) nightclub, while Single Percival works in his father's company, who still lives under his father's supervision and only at night thanks to Rooster's intercession , a piece of his dream can come true. He plays the piano in the nightclub, if only according to instructions and not his own works, which he secretly composes in the attic. When Ace and business partner Spats (Ving Rhames) are shot dead by his ruthless right hand Trumpy (Terrence Howard), times change in Idlewild. Rooster takes over the nightclub, but is put under pressure by Trumpy. He increases the prices for alcohol and protection and Rooser knows only too well what his counterpart is capable of. At the time, Angel Davenport (Paula Patton) appeared at the nightclub, a celebrated star singer who was booked by Ace for several appearances. She brings light to Percival's life, who falls in love with the seemingly unreachable woman from the start.

Especially in the first 30 minutes, “Idlewild” is a wonderful piece of film. With  https://goldmovies.to/  staging that never takes itself too seriously, completely in the style of Outkast's public appearance, not only fans will be spellbound. Old black and white pictures are used as well as stick figures on the music lines of the song sheets on a visual level for humorous, little jokes. Then there is the child actor Bobb'e J. Thompson (Final Call), who plays the young Rooster as a kind of mini-Al-Capone with wonderful overacting and excessive cockiness and so has the laughs on his side. In addition to the successful setting, the well-chosen costumes and the atmosphere created in this way, the playful staging proves to be the biggest plus point of “Idlewild” over the entire duration. This comes to the fore again and again, for example an animated tap on the Rooster hip flask becomes a "running gag" that communicates wonderfully with its owner (at least an absolute pleasure in the original English version).

Unfortunately, after the first half hour, the story begins to take hold. And as much as you can congratulate the guys from Outkast for finding a good choice for the production with their friend and longtime regular music video director Bryan Barber, just as much you will have to blame them for being one with the same man damn bad choice for the script. Because Barber's script is unimaginatively based on well-known set pieces. The cocky doer who first needs the right rainfall to recognize where the real meaning of life lies on the one hand and the shy introvert who, after the right impetus, manages to realize his dream on the other. The paths that have been mapped out for both of them from the start then really run without a single junction in exactly those paths that the genre provides for them. Even the fact that you have a few surprises in store for the character of the female lead Paula Patton does not work, because these are all announced so intrusively that