The Blues Brothers
Year: 1980
Director: John Landis
Stars: John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Cab Calloway, Carrie Fisher,
Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Henry Gibson, Ray Charles, John
Candy, Charles Napier, Steven Williams, Kathleen Freeman,
Twiggy, John Lee Hooker, Steven Spielberg, Frank Oz, The Blues
Brothers Band
Genre: Musical, Comedy, Action Joliet Jake (John Belushi)
is released from prison after a three year sentence and is
met at the prison gates by his brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd).
They then visit the orphanage where they grew up, only to
be told by the nun who runs the place that she needs $5000
or it will be closed down. The Blues Brothers, as they are
known, decide to redeem themselves by getting their old band
back together to raise the cash. It's not as simple as that,
however...
When this film was released, it wasn't successful at all,
and was criticised for its wastefulness in the amount of money
it cost, and the amount of destruction on display. Nowadays,
nobody would bat an eyelid at all those expensive set pieces
where cars are destroyed, but back then it provided the critics
with the excuse to denigrate the whole enterprise. Scripted
by Aykroyd and the director John Landis, it's not all crash
bang wallop, it's a sincere tribute to soul and blues musicians,
too.
The Blues Brothers began life as an act on Saturday Night
Live, where Aykroyd and Belushi would cover old soul records,
dressed in black suits, black hats, white shirts and black
ties. In many ways this film version, which opens out that
act, is wish fulfilment for the two comedians - they get to
play soul singers who receive rapturous applause, and share
a film with some of the greats, like James Brown, Aretha Franklin
and Ray Charles, who also perform in numbers that don't fit
in entirely smoothly.
But they couldn't simply have non stop music, oh no, they
had to pad it out with comedy too - the comedy of smashing
things up. Early on, the brothers escape a police car by driving
around a shopping mall, scattering shoppers and merchandise
as they go. This would be the climax to most comedies, but
for this film, it's just the beginning. The actual climax
has the Bluesmobile (a converted police car itself) chased
by a huge amount of cops through Chicago, resulting in numerous
crashes and one incredible stunt where an irate neo-Nazi (Henry
Gibson) drives off an uncompleted road only to sail hundreds
of feet up in the air.
All well and good, but there's a vacuum at the heart of the
movie - the Blues Brothers themselves. They don't have many
funny lines, or any strong personality, and neither are they
particularly terrific at singing. They are only cool by association;
association with the soul greats, and participation in the
stunts. I could imagine the Palace Hotel Ballroom being filled
by Aretha, or Cab Calloway, as we see him with the audience
in the palm of his hand during his "Minnie the Moocher"
number, but not Jake and Elwood (and they leave after two
songs!). Aykroyd and Belushi, yeah, but not Jake and Elwood.
As spectacle, and for the cast and music, The Blues Brothers
is fine entertainment, but it has a hollow sound. A remake/sequel
appeared in 1998.
