Honeydripper

I didn't expect to enjoy this movie half as much as I did. It was really excellent and I am not one to heap unwarranted praise on anything. I have a strong disapproval of Danny Glover due to his politics, but I must admit he is an excellent actor and he manages to keep his politics out of the movies I've seen him in. This story is about the owner of a black-owned bar called the "Honeydripper." Since the owner is under financial duress and is about to be foreclosed on, he needed a big event that would bring in a large chunk of money over the weekend so that he could pay off his loan by Monday. So he advertises beginning the week before that he will have the celebrity "Sam the Guitar Man" as entertainment over the weekend. It turns out that "Sam" is indisposed and fails to turn up, so the bar owner grabs a drifter with a homemade guitar to stand in and pretend to be "Sam." As it turned out, the drifter was a big fan of Sam's and knew all of his music very well, and he turned out to be an excellent guitar player. When the people heard him play, several other townsfolk joined in and formed a band around the pseudo-Sam. They had piano, saxophone, drums, accompanying the drifter. The folks enjoyed the music and so did I. In the end, the loan shark let the cat out of the bag that the drifter wasn't Sam, but by then the locals no longer cared, they liked this guy and his music. In the end, the bar owner was able to pay off his debt on time.

Honeydripper was a little gem in the John Sayles catalog of film making. He has a unique style of story telling and his characters are always complex and nuanced. Danny Glover as Tyrone, trying to make a go of his little club against all odds has you rooting for him with all his human flaws. The performances from Charles Dutton,Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Yaya Charles, Gary Clark and a slew of supporting cast bring to life the dilemmas of the black man's struggles in the Deep South of the 50's. The music is a vital part of bringing this story to life as well. Keb Mo almost steals the show as Possum. Very enjoyable and the music was a blast. Well worth watching.

My kind of drama which is based on the struggles of the main characters trying to get through tough times in each of their lives, facing disappointments, obstacles beyond their control and left wondering what to do. By not giving up they each have opportunities for each other. You will need to watch to see how it plays out both musically and dramatically. This could be any time period but it is the 50s and situated in the South and is the Southern Blues of the Juk era. Danny Glover delivers, as usual, a great performance. The supporting roles gave wonderful performances as well.

Fairly predictable. A legendary juke joint on its last legs. Banksters and gangsters loaning money. 24 hours left to pay the debts when an unknown, hotshot guitar playing singer is drug out of the cotton fields and to the stage at the last minute to save the day and win the girl.This movie seems to have been written for the stage. There's only few sets in which most of the action takes place and most of the action is dialogue between 2-3 characters. Unfortunately, in the end it was just too hard for me to continue to listen to Danny Glover's raspy, whispery delivery. My hearing's not too good these days so most of the time I never understood what he was saying.However, having said all that, Guy Clark Jr., the unknown, cotton pickin guitarist, makes the movie worth watching. It was worth the price to hear him play.

It took a while for me to catch on to this movie. It moved slow at the beginning and was a bit confusing. The story line and the dialog left a lot to be desired, but the actors made up for that by delivering strong performances. Danny Glover and Charles Dutton were believable in their roles and sold their characters. If you like blues and early Rock n Roll, this is the movie for you. By the end of the movie I got into the rhythm with the movie and enjoyed the time I spent watching it.

I loved the concept of this movie and was pleasantly surprised that it held my interest. I was excited at scene after scene and the script was very well written. It was a bit short, but it ended well. I have purchased this movie to send to a friend. I watched it from a Netflix rental after seeing about 6 minutes of it on a recording following a movies that I taped on television. I wished that I had set the tape time to continue but I saw enough to know that I wanted to see more and so I rented it. The movie covered many areas of life in its depiction of the down home south backwoods of the south. The wooden juke house, lazy dialogue, injustice, death, laughter, music, flashbacks, hominess, church and everything country was a delight. I grew up in the dirt of the country in the Delta of Mississippi and the word "Delta" is mentioned in the movie. I never experienced all the things like in the movie, except I know what a field of cotton feels like and looks like (I was there once or twice) and I know how hot the sun is in those fields. This movie is refreshing because it's not really predictable, but it is a little bit mainly because the scenes aren't predictably set up, but if you comprehend what's going on you will nod your head to what happens next.

One of my favorite movies BUT:Be aware that the Blu-ray DOES NOT INCLUDE any of the extras that are on the regular DVD. They include: Behind the Scenes Director's Commentary Interviews

Honeydripper was a little gem in the John Sayles catalog of film making. He has a unique style of story telling and his characters are always complex and nuanced. Danny Glover as Tyrone, trying to make a go of his little club against all odds has you rooting for him with all his human flaws. The performances from Charles Dutton,Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Yaya Charles, Gary Clark and a slew of supporting cast bring to life the dilemmas of the black man's struggles in the Deep South of the 50's. The music is a vital part of bringing this story to life as well. Keb Mo almost steals the show as Possum. Very enjoyable and the music was a blast. Well worth watching.

Independent film-maker John Sayles is a classic example of someone whose talent has been essentially overlooked by Hollywood's money-making machine, and who struggles to secure the funding for his series of (invariably) intelligent, perceptive, expertly constructed and relevant films. Sayles has tackled a wide range of (frequently international) social and human issues, including labour relations, human isolation, sports match-fixing, imperialist war, political corruption and modern urban malaise in films such as Lone Star, Matewan, City Of Hope, Limbo, Amigo, Men With Guns and Eight Men Out. 2007's Honeydripper fits neatly into Sayles' body of work, being a study of post-WW2 human and racial tensions in 1950s southern USA, whilst also showcasing the vibrant rhythm and blues music of the era.As is evidenced by Sayles' director's commentary and the various interviews included as DVD extras, one thing always very noticeable about any Sayles film is the meticulous subject research that underpins his film-making. Here, as well as making extensive use of home-grown acting talent from Alabama (where the film was shot), Sayles captures the atmosphere of the pre-Korean war, institutionally racist, religiously devout, small-town society brilliantly. This is a society where 'coloreds' have their own shop entrances, and where negroes seeking work are routinely rounded up, slung in jail and forced to work the cotton fields. At the centre of Sayles' film is Tyrone 'Pine Top' Purvis (in the best film performance I have seen from Danny Glover), an erstwhile musician with a troubled past, now struggling to make ends meet running his Honeydripper bar/club, his wife Delilah (an outstanding Lisa Gay Hamilton), a domestic help, suffering from a bout of religious ambivalence, and Delilah's daughter China Doll (Yaya DaCosta), the (rather reluctant) subject of local boys' attentions. In order to prevent forced closure of his club by malevolent rent-collectors, Purvis hits on the idea of bringing New Orleans guitar hero Guitar Sam to town, even if the venture does require him to pilfer liquor from a neighbouring club and to steal from his wife's savings (originally destined for China Doll's beauty therapist training). When the musician doesn't show at the railway station, Purvis then has to persuade (or bribe) local Sheriff Pugh (a superbly brooding and lascivious Stacey Keach) to free wandering musician Sonny Blake (Gary Clark, Jr.), in order for the planned gig to go ahead.Whilst the 'unknown artist makes good and saves the day' plot-line is, of course, a well-trodden one, Sayles conjures up something quite special, via a series of remarkably naturalistic acting performances, an intelligent script, a brilliantly evocative (Nitszchean almost) score by Mason Daring and some impressive cinematography courtesy of Mike Leigh's regular DoP, Dick Pope. Particularly evocative are the scenes in the local cotton fields, those of youngsters improvising their attempts at playing the blues, the exhilarating live performance from Blake and the use of the local blind guitarist Possum (played by blues musician Keb' Mo'), who haunts the town as its ethereal prophet (this latter a sign of Sayles' genius touch).Whilst, for me, the last 30 minutes or so (the club gig excepted) become more routine, Sayles' film is still another compellingly made entry in the pantheon of work of one of the most outstanding American film-makers of the last 30 years.

As a blues fan I remember making a mental note to see this film when it came out, but events got in the way until I bought it on DVD. I was disappointed by a weak story line and the fact that I had great difficulty in understanding the dialogue. Not because they were speaking a foreign language like American English, but just very poor quality sound recording. The soundtrack music was OK, but could have been a lot better. After all, the blues tradition is so rich that the makers should have been spoiled for choice.

Nice little film. Danny Glover particularly good. Although evocative of the period, I felt that the film lacked that edge that could have turned into a great film. A bit too sugary perhaps. Nonetheless, well worth watching.

"Honeydripper" is a well made, excellent movie. But for people who are passionate about the blues, rock and roll and the South of the U.S it is much more. It's a real trip. When it comes to praise the acting you wouldn't know where to begin...it's all just great. The musical contributions of Keb' Mo' and Gary Clark, Jr. (both now well established blues superstars) are also very exciting. 'nuff said, order this!

Only stumbled upon this film by accident on BBC iplayer but found it to be a very enjoyable story with some great performances. Definitely worth a watch especially if you enjoy early rock and roll music.