Honeydripper (film)
| Honeydripper | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | John Sayles |
| Produced by | Maggie Renzi |
| Screenplay by | John Sayles |
| Starring |
Danny Glover Keb' Mo' Mable John Kel Mitchell Gary Clark Jr. |
| Music by | Mason Daring |
| Cinematography | Dick Pope |
| Edited by | John Sayles |
|
Production
company |
Anarchist's Convention Films
Honeydripper Films |
| Distributed by | Emerging Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
123 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Honeydripper is a 2007 American musical drama film written and directed by John Sayles.
Filmed and set in Alabama, the film stars Danny Glover as the owner of a blues club that is failing until he hires a young electric guitarist (Gary Clark, Jr.). The film also stars musician Keb' Mo', actor/comedian Kel Mitchell and singer Mable John. Rhythm and blues singer Ruth Brown recorded some songs for the film and was cast to play a role, but died before filming started.
Stephen Holden, the film critic for The New York Times, was disappointed in the film script and wrote, "While operating on a mythic level Honeydripper also wants to create the same kind of top-to-bottom social microcosm found in many of Mr. Sayles’s films. But this time his attempt to have his characters be simultaneously symbolic and real works at cross purposes. He is so uncomfortable writing dialogue in an old-time Southern argot that the conversations in Honeydripper rarely settle into the easy, colorfully idiomatic flow that has always been a hallmark of Southern speech. Hard as they try to break through the stiffness, the film’s fine actors only fitfully succeed in camouflaging the machinery behind their characters."
John Anderson, film critic for Variety magazine, liked the film, and lauded the musical in his review. He wrote, "John Sayles the storyteller and John Sayles the political progressive haven't always played well together, but, in the endearing musical time-piece Honeydripper, the indie icon lets his narrative gifts take the lead and the social issues follow like a tight bass line. The result is one of Sayles' best films. The music, a mix of blues, seminal rock and newcomer Gary Clark Jr.'s performance, will be an obvious draw, as will the performances by some leading African-American actors."
...
Wikipedia