We hear from Eamonn Walker as Howlin' Wolf and Beyonce’s Etta James, but if there is one artist who is synonymous with Chess, it would be McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters. Cadillac wisely focuses on him as the primary counter-weight to Chess, showing his early plantation years, celebrated Alan Lomax field recordings, and his eventual domination of the Chicago Blues scene. Although Jeffrey Wright is a totally different body type than Waters, he really captures the blues legend’s cadences and personality.
Believe it or not, Beyonce is also surprisingly effective as James, doing credibly well with classics like “At Last.” As Chuck Berry, Mos Def hits a perfectly manic note, and Cedric the Entertainer is a spot-on (but under-utilized) Willie Dixon. However, if you have read several books on Chess Records (as I have), you might find Adrien Brody distractingly miscast as Chess. Essentially a Willie Loman who made good, Chess died at a decidedly middle-aged 52, yet Brody plays him like a sad-eyed, sensitive thirty-something.
Record geeks (again, like me) will also take issue with other simplifications and alterations to the historical record. Chess really was a family business, run jointly by the brothers. Leonard’s son Marshall was also constant presence, working in nearly every department of the company. However, Cadillac shunts Phil Chess to the margins and ignores the junior Chess completely. To its credit though, Cadillac deftly handles the controversies surrounding the Chesses. While showing their rather informal royalty accounting process, the film also conveys Leonard Chess’s devotion to his artists, particularly James (but the supposed romantic interest between them has never been documented in any account of Chess I have read).
While Cadillac’s dramatic scenes are reasonably diverting, if not overly ambitious, the film’s real attraction is its music. On their strength, it qualifies as the most entertaining movie musical of the year, so far. It would also be a happy development if the film ultimately increases audience awareness of the label’s great blues and r&b artists. It opens tomorrow at a theater near you.
Joe Bendel blogs on jazz and cultural issues at http://jbspins.blogspot.com , and coordinated the Jazz Foundation of America’s instrument donation campaign for musicians displaced by Hurricane Katrina.