1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicke... Read all1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicken man, and the landlord, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and local Ar... Read all1950. Rural Alabama. Cotton harvest. It's a make-or-break weekend for the Honeydripper Lounge and its owner, piano player Tyrone "Pine Top" Purvis. Deep in debt to the liquor man, the chicken man, and the landlord, Tyrone is desperate to lure the young cotton pickers and local Army base recruits into his juke joint, away from Touissant's, the rival joint across the wa... Read all
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Featured reviews
And I loved seeing the people and places I know up on the big screen. I think Maggie and John are "da bomb." The woman is a hugger; I love that warmth. John's the most down-to-earth guy.
That being said, I can also honestly report to you "Honeydripper" is a good movie - not perfect, but very much worth seeing. I think Danny Glover is sensational in the lead role as Pine Top and he and Charles Dutton are totally believable as two old pals fighting the odds to save Pine 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 story that takes its time, one filled with complex characters and some memorable lines penned by Sayles - a movie made with love and lots of heart - then "Honeydripper" just might be for you.
Aside from the great music, one can also see this movie as a look at the pivot era in the South. It's set during the Jim Crow era, around the start of the Korean War, just a few years away from the civil rights movement. One notices that even though this is still the age of institutionalized racism, many of the characters do what they can to try and have civil relationships with white people: Sheriff Pugh (Stacy Keach) is on pretty good terms with Pinetop, and Pinetop's wife Delilah (Lisa Gay Hamilton) manages to carry on a conversation with her employer (Mary Steenburgen). The music, of course, is really the best part. I certainly recommend this movie, as I have recommended every John Sayles movie that I've seen.
Also starring Yaya DaCosta, Charles S. Dutton, Vondie Curtis Hall, Keb' Mo', Kel Mitchell and Gary Clark Jr. I think that I saw John Sayles in a bit part.
But, it isn't just about music. It is also about relations between Black and White in the 1950s South. There are some powerful performances by some powerful actors like Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, and Stacy Keach; and interesting new faces like Yaya DaCosta (Take the Lead).
A good story with an great backdrop. Maybe just a little long.
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFor the scenes in which Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover) is playing the piano, the close-ups of his hands were performed by Henderson Huggins, a Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based pianist and piano tuner. Huggins, who has been blind since childhood due to glaucoma, got the job when the movie's director and producer team of John Sayles and Maggie Renzi received a tape of Huggins from the Alabama Blues Project, a Tuscaloosa organization dedicated to musical education and the preservation of the history of Alabama Blues.
- GoofsThough set in 1950 the one dollar bills paid to get into the show by patrons are not silver certificates but rather current currency.
- SoundtracksHoneydripper
Written by Billy Novick & Mason Daring
Published by Daring Music
Administered by Universal Music Inc. (ASCAP)
Performed by The Aces of Spade
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $267,880
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,863
- Dec 30, 2007
- Gross worldwide
- $544,925
- Runtime2 hours 4 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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