Cadillac Records (2008) - 6/10

Cadillac Records just didn't appeal to me for some reason and I usually like musical biopics. I guess I just didn't know enough about Muddy Waters and the people to see if they were realistical portrays and care about them. Unlike Ray, this movie focuses on a group of people and the music era they're living in which kind of made it hard to identify with one character. I thought the costumes, sets, and production design was very well done with little details like the cars, billboards and shops all reflecting the depression and history we are thrown into. But like most biopics, Cadillac Records falls into the rut of being cliched where we see the rise and fall of these characters who must battle record companies and the racist police who can't stand to see black people become famous. I liked the little sessions of live music they would play with Mos Def and others but it never seemed to fit into the overall picture or give it a theme to play off of but instead just seemed like a linear history channel documentary. I would rather of seen more attention paid to one person's struggle and the obstacle they had to overcome back then to get the music mainstream instead of this contstant party and astmosphere of family. Even though this is all based on true stories of Muddy Waters and other jazz legends, I am not older enough to have grown up listening to this music and appreciated the influence it has on today's artists. I think this movie has decent performances and great music montages but is too disjointed and random to be watched again.