"Cadillac Records" trades in vulgar racist stereotypes that demean and defame the real life persons upon whom the film allegedly is based. The evil formula in use is one familiar to anyone who has heard the type of misleading, underhanded and backstabbing gossip whose polish is camouflage for malice. Each character is given a seemingly admiring build up, only to be savaged by a scurrilous and scandalous focus on such vulgar vices as foul-mouthed language, fornication, drug addiction and avarice. The film-makers, who are much less talented than their subjects, seem to be saying that the price a great artist must pay for his gift is to be thought of as a guttersnipe. The lurid images presented are a blight upon the memory of some of the great blues artists of all time.
I've met several of the named individuals depicted and don't see any connection between the real life persons and the ones presented on screen. To give you an idea of how far off the mark the film is, in over 40 years of being a devoted blues fan I have never once heard a blues musician or another fan use profanity of any kind, while in the dialogue of the film profanity is closer to being the rule rather than the exception. The film-makers had the option of highlighting any dramatic aspect of their subject's lives that they could think of, and chose to devote an enormous amount of attention to ugly, unimportant and possibly non-existent details, showing incredibly poor artistic judgment.
I don't doubt that the makers of "Cadillac Records" had the advice of attorneys before they put their travesty on screen and that they will claim, if challenged, that the incidents presented are all true to life. But I very strongly doubt that they'd be able to present convincing proof of some of the more objectionable content, which I believe may have been based on questionable rumors, mere anecdotes or unsubstantiated gossip. One thing at least is terribly clear: whatever the facts are, the emphasis is entirely wrong. The great Chess recording stars were not stupid, lecherous, violent or greedy; they were popular geniuses beloved of millions of people all over the world, which is how they must be remembered. Don't see this awful film if you can possibly avoid it.
I've met several of the named individuals depicted and don't see any connection between the real life persons and the ones presented on screen. To give you an idea of how far off the mark the film is, in over 40 years of being a devoted blues fan I have never once heard a blues musician or another fan use profanity of any kind, while in the dialogue of the film profanity is closer to being the rule rather than the exception. The film-makers had the option of highlighting any dramatic aspect of their subject's lives that they could think of, and chose to devote an enormous amount of attention to ugly, unimportant and possibly non-existent details, showing incredibly poor artistic judgment.
I don't doubt that the makers of "Cadillac Records" had the advice of attorneys before they put their travesty on screen and that they will claim, if challenged, that the incidents presented are all true to life. But I very strongly doubt that they'd be able to present convincing proof of some of the more objectionable content, which I believe may have been based on questionable rumors, mere anecdotes or unsubstantiated gossip. One thing at least is terribly clear: whatever the facts are, the emphasis is entirely wrong. The great Chess recording stars were not stupid, lecherous, violent or greedy; they were popular geniuses beloved of millions of people all over the world, which is how they must be remembered. Don't see this awful film if you can possibly avoid it.