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Movies / On DVD / Honeydripper
Honeydripper

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Honeydripper (2007)

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Reviews Counted:79

Fresh:53

Rotten:26

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: Honeydripper's electric musical numbers and sharp performances make for an exciting film, despite its slow pace.

Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for brief violence and some suggestive material.

Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:09-05-2008

Synopsis: Iconoclastic filmmaker John Sayles, in his feature film, continues his extraordinary examination of the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures in the new film... Iconoclastic filmmaker John Sayles, in his feature film, continues his extraordinary examination of the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures in the new film Honeydripper.With his usual understated intelligence, Sayles uses the rhythms of the citizens of Harmony, Alabama to immerse the audience into the world of the Jim Crow south. It’s a fable about the birth of rock n’ roll—a quintessentially American subject, but with a fidelity to time and temperament that is unusual in an American director.

It’s 1950 and it’s a make or break weekend for Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover), the proprietor of the Honeydripper Lounge. Deep in debt, Tyrone is desperate to bring back the crowds that used to come to his place. He decides to lay off his long-time blues singer Bertha Mae, and announces that he’s hired a famous guitar player, Guitar Sam, for a one night only gig in order to save the club.

Into town drifts Sonny Blake, a young man with nothing to his name but big dreams and the guitar case in his hand. Rejected by Tyrone when he applies to play at the Honeydripper, he is intercepted by the corrupt local Sheriff, arrested for vagrancy and rented out as an unpaid cotton picker to the highest bidder. But when Tyrone's ace-in-the-hole fails to materialize at the train station, his desperation leads him back to Sonny and the strange, wire-dangling object in his guitar case. The Honeydripper lounge is all set to play its part in rock n' roll history.

Honeydripper features an all-star cast including Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Stacy Keach, Mary Steenburgen,Yaya DaCosta and Sean Patrick Thomas; as well as such notable musicians as Keb’ Mo’ and Dr. Mable John. It also introduces a major new talent, Gary Clark Jr. who makes his electrifying film debut as Sonny. debut as Sonny. --© Emerging Films [More]

Starring: Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Charles S. Dutton, Mary Steenburgen

Starring: Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Charles S. Dutton, Mary Steenburgen, Gary Clark, Vondie Curtis Hall, Stacy Keach, Kel Mitchell, Keb' Mo', Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Sean Patrick Thomas

Director: John Sayles

Director: John Sayles
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Producer: Maggie Renzi
Composer: Mason Daring
Studio: Emerging Pictures

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Reviews for Honeydripper

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/18/08
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/09/08
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
05/08/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

This isn't the kind of flashy Big Issue movie that makes people stand up and take notice. It's quiet and moody, with outbursts of strong emotion and energy.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
05/01/08
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
10/20/07
Screen International
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Ted Drozdowski
Ted Drozdowski
Boston Phoenix

An engaging and inspirational tale... handled with graceful understatement.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
12/27/08
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/18/08
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NPR.org | comment Comment
10/18/08
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR.org

While this may not be the rowdiest birth-of-rock-’n’-roll film ever made -- it’s very likely the least rowdy -- Sayles addresses a transitional moment in his own patient, precise way.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
10/18/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

It's optimistic, and maybe it doesn't have a heck of a lot to do with history, but it's a tale well told.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
10/18/08
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
10/18/08
Monika Bartyzel
Monika Bartyzel
Cinematical

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
10/01/08
Jenny Peters
Jenny Peters
Hollywood.com

It's a leisurely paced period musical drama set in the Jim Crow south of the 1950s that's steeped in the black southern mores ... .

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
06/22/08
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
06/10/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

John Sayles, after 27 years and 16 films, is the ancient mariner of independent cinema, navigating the constantly swirling waters of the genre with passion and skill.

Full Review Source: Atlantic City Weekly | comment Comment
06/05/08
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

inert

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
04/02/08
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

In this allegory, you understand, times change and troubles stay the same.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
03/21/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

... a tone deaf movie, filled with obvious, overly expository dialogue and sometimes patronizing symbols.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
03/21/08
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The movie's central story is too slight and predictable to justify all the embroidery Sayles adds around the edges.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
03/17/08
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Honeydripper

December 25, 2007: Set in the segregated South in the Fifties, this music-driven, costume drama is curiously less compelling than the picture's electrifying score and wince-inducing recreations of tableaus of a bygone era marked by subjugation and intolerance. Opens in new window
More...

December 25, 2007: Critical Consensus: Water Horse is Refreshing, Debaters is Great, Juno is Certifed Fresh
This week at the movies, we have galactic monsters (Alien vs Predator: Requiem), ol' Nessie (The Water Horse: The Legend of the Deep), big talkers (The Great Debaters, starring... More...

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