It
doesn’t take any guts or brains for that matter for a critic to slam a movie
about Karaoke, particularly one starring Huey Lewis. But it does take guts to
go out on a limb, and find the good stuff that this movie offers and forget about
your precious credibility long enough to enjoy a movie, though flawed, is a hell
of a lot of fun. I’ll admit that on the face of it looks like a joke. Gwyneth
Paltrow only agreed to do it because it was her father’s pet project, bla
bla bla - guess what? Bruce Paltrow’s project is pretty damned entertaining
and it has a truckload of heart.
A
person needs to cut a film like this a little slack, yes the Altman-esque storylines
don’t always work like magic, but here are lot of magical moments in this
film. Watching Paltrow--raised by Vegas Showgirl (Angie Dickenson) try to charm
her way into the heart of the Father that she’s just met is a thing of beauty.
Paltrow is often at her most effective in roles like this (Hard Eight for example).
Paltrow can’t talk her newfound father (Huey Lewis) who “can” act
by the way, into letting her tag along for a while so he follows him to one of
his competitions and surprises him by getting up on stage for a rendition of “Betty
Davis Eyes.”
I
shouldn’t have to convince anyone how good Paul Giamatti would be in the
role of a man who’s hit his mid-life crisis and filled the void with a Karaoke-binge
road trip. (He actually does his own singing and he’s fantastic). His sidekick
is Andre Brougher and their duet on “Try a Little Tenderness” is one
of the musical highpoints. And Maria Bello and Scott Speedman are a desperate
duo, hanging on to each other out of necessity and their vignette is fun and unpredictable.
For
every poorly written, ill-conceived plot twist, there is an entertaining moment
and a few scene’s that may just coax a tear out of an unjaded duct. Giamatti’s
partner Brougher is an escaped con who meets a bad end, and I can see a critic
going to town on parts like these - but between Paltrow, Giamatti, Brougher, and
Maria Bello they bring enough goods to this film to deserve a much better shake
than the critics gave it. Myself I don’t have to kiss anybody’s ass
so I’m going thumbs up. There’s alot of good music, enough genuine laughs
and a lot of heart. Heart that isn’t forced or sappy. If the sentiment would
have been manipulative - I couldn’t in good conscience have given this film
a recommendation. But there are a lot of people out there who would love this
film - there’s alot of Karaoke buffs and it’s one of my wife’s
favorite films. I’ve seen it repeatledly as a result and have come to like
it a great deal. Plus it’s just mean spirited and heartless to savage this
film that was such a labor of love between Gwyneth and her deceased father.
