Film Reviews

Idlewild

• Rating:
• Director: Bryan Barber.
• Starring: Andre Benjamin, Big Boi, Terrance Howard, Paula Patton.
• Details: US / 121 mins (15A).

Idlewild, although coolly directed, is let down by its players, its the by-the-book, unfocused plot and a story that threatens to kick off, but never delivers on its early promise. Set in the Prohibition-era American South, Speakeasy pianist Percival (Benjamin) sees the chance to escape his father's mortician business when he starts to write songs for sexy singer Angel Davenport (Patton).The club owner Rooster (Big Boi) is at loggerheads with local gangster and bootlegger Trumpy (Howard) who is demanding more and more kickbacks from the club that is on its last legs. The opening ten minutes suggest Idlewild is going to be a little different: the unique credits, coupled with the humorous voiceover intro, gives the viewer hope that this is going to be a fun two hours with violence, top-notch acting and great tunes to tap your feet to. However, it's only the latter that proves to be the case. Revolver, Four Brothers and Be Cool showed Benjamin to be the more talented of the Outkast boys when it comes to the movies, but Percival's character demands that Benjamin up his game and he is found wanting. Big Boi fares no better, and when he's not on stage prancing about, his acting talents prove to be lacklustre. So it's down to Howard - the only bona fide actor on the marquee - to dig everyone else out of the hole they've gotten themselves into, and although he starts out with his usual screen presence, his underdeveloped character drags him back down to the cliched bad guy. Macy Gray, for the limited screen time she's allocated, shows them all how to do it as the bitchy, alcoholic singer.

Review by Gavin Burke