During this uneasy time of dread left by the Corona outbreak, this film has shed a little ray of light on my monotonous life. Tracee Ellis Ross gives a performance which seems to truly reflect her life off of the screen; a woman who is famous and relies little on men. This both in her character and her real-life makes her a role model to anyone who wants to confirm to everyone else and themselves that being alone does not mean you are lonely and it is okay.
The soundtrack alone would be a reason as to why you want to watch this film featuring original music for the film as well as songs by Sam Cooke (covered at various points throughout the movie), Phantom Planet (used as a meet-cute) and the legendary Aretha Franklin. However, this does not lay a finger on the soul produced when Tracee starts singing. I tend to determine good music by goosebumps or gut feelings and I got both. It barely took a sec of singing to give a taste of awe in my mouth and a feeling of intoxication made by those notes. If Tracee were to make music, with the crackle and pop given by vinyl I surely would believe that Tracee was an original soul train singer. But along with Tracee, there were the amazing songs sung by Kelvin Harrison Jr. The evolution of his character's singing character may be mimicking his very own as surely with a performance like this we would be asking for a demo very soon.
As a movie this was what I wanted for a music film:
- There was a harmonising of characters (not just musically) which helped with the magnitude of emotions felt on screen making us feel them too.
- Not defining to a single genre. Those looking for romance would find this between Kelvin Harrison Jr and Dakota Johnson making a connection needed to tick this box yet, it would not fully clarify the film to be a romance. The same goes for if the film were to be classed as a comedy or a drama. This film is a happy blended of necessary labels need to make this film interesting and to add texture to the plot.
- It is not totally predictable. Some of it is predictable however, there are definite twists that would not be obvious unless you were watching the film under an easter egg magnifying glass.
Overall, I would recommend this film (and did as soon as I finished it) to anyone wanting a joy-filling film for people interested in nearly any type of film. With cameos from the likes of Eddie Izzard and Diplo and including minor roles from June Raphael and Bill Pullman. This is a big strive for highlighting race, gender and age inequality seen in Hollywood and the music industry as well as society as a whole. This film is deliverance for multiple voices needed to be heard and the women who wrote and directed this film hit them all on the head, so now we just need to listen (and watch).
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