Cadillac Records

This movie is crowded and sprawling, and if it rambles sometimes, that's just fine. Like those big, boxy Caddies (and like Howlin’ Wolf, if he did say so himself), it's built for comfort, not for speed. It hums, it purrs and it roars.Read Full Review »

It's an enjoyable ramble, with a feel for what made the early days of rock as wild as any that followed.Read Full Review »

One of the strengths of Cadillac Records, written and directed by Darnell Martin, is that it's a movie about music by someone who genuinely seems to enjoy listening to music.Read Full Review »

Such an exhilarating, spirited piece of work that its embellishments and omissions cease to matter.Read Full Review »

Cadillac Records is an account of the Chess story that depends more on music than history, which is perhaps as it should be. The film is a fascinating record of the evolution of a black musical style, and the tangled motives of the white men who had an instinct for it.Read Full Review »

Brody plays Chess as a slightly crooked but well-meaning musical cheerleader without fully emerging as a character.Read Full Review »

It's a hell of a story, and Cadillac Records wants to tell it so badly that it threatens to warp the narrative out of recognition.Read Full Review »

There are plenty of small pleasures to be found throughout Darnell Martin's feature, but a compelling storyline featuring three-dimensional characters is not among them.Read Full Review »

The film features too little about Berry (an engaging Mos Def), who crosses over to great fame.Read Full Review »

It's a rousing, fast-paced tale, told with a modicum of verve and packed with colorfully flawed, occasionally heroic and even tragic characters. It also feels disappointingly bloated and too fast-paced by half.Read Full Review »