THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
The best thing about music is that it can give us a new purpose and it moves me to see that unfold in The Blues Brothers.
PLOT
Based on the Saturday Night Live musical sketch, the film follows Elwood and Jake Blues, the latter of which has recently been released from prison after serving time for a bank robbery. After being picked up by his brother, both would visit the Catholic orphanage they grew up in and are stunned to hear from Sister Mary (Kathleen Freeman) that it will be closed unless it is paid for with $5,000 in property taxes. After this, the brothers attend a sermon and Jake gains an epiphany to reform his old band to raise the money needed for the orphanage. As the brothers begin their quest upon a nightly drive, it quickly gets out of hand when Elwood must flee from police, due to having a suspended license for moving violations & parking tickets. They’re able to escape from the authorities after driving through Dixie Square Mall. When they decide to rest at Elwood’s flophouse, their actions alert Jake’s parole officer Burton Mercer (John Candy) who takes the cops directly to them. Before they could make an arrest, the building would be destroyed by a woman who has homicidal tensions towards Jake. Because the Blue brothers were unharmed from the incident, they move forward with reuniting their band mates. They find five of them at a holiday inn (Steve Cropper, Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, Murphy Dunne, Willie ‘Too Big’ Hall, & Tom ‘Bones’ Malone), another at a Chez Paul restaurant (Alan Rubin), and two more at a soul food restaurant (‘Blue Lou’ Maroni & Matt ‘Guitar Murphy). However, their trip to reach out to the last two run a Nazi party off a bridge into East Lagoon, causing the latter’s Head Nazi (Henry Gibson) to vow revenge. Once the band is all together, they take an IOU to obtain instruments & equipment from Ray’s Music Exchange. They first perform at a honky tonk named Bob’s Country Bunker, but they end up running a bat tab higher than their plan played. They ditch the check and make a break for it, especially when Elwood realizes they took the gig originally meant for another band named the Good Ole Boys. The decision causes the band and the bar owner Bob (Jeff Morris) to pursue them as well. Knowing they need a big show to raise the money overnight, they reach out to their former agent Maury Sline (Steve Lawrence) and convince him to book them at the Palace Hotel Ballroom. Wanting to ensure there’s an attendance, the Blues Brothers drive around Chicago with a loudspeaker strapped to the roof their car, the Bluesmbile, to promote their concert. However, the promotion alerts all the parties after them. On the night of the concert, the brothers notice the police and the Good Ole Boys in attendance. Knowing that the tax deadline is hours away from approaching, they perform at least two songs before sneaking offstage. Once they get behind the curtains, a record company executive offers them $10,000 advance for a recording contract. The brothers only take half for the orphanage, requesting the rest to go to Ray’s IOU and the band. After they leave the building unnoticed, they run into the women that’s been trying to kill him, who happens to be Jake’s ex-fiancé, furiously upset for leaving her at the altar. As he pleads for his life, she seems to forgive him until he rejects her and retreats with his brother. This leads to them racing themselves to the Richard J Daley Center’s Chicago City Hall, evading the wrath of the Good Ole Boys and the Nazis in the process. When they reach the building, they’re able to pay the tax bill in time before being arrested by the police. The Blues brothers would serve their time for car theft & property damage, whereas their band would also serve for harboring them as fugitives and the film would end with them all performing in front of fellow inmates.
THOUGHTS
Comedies and musicals are known to be quite extravagant with the setting the story chooses to take, so it felt fitting for this one to be like so and pay off in the long run, which I end up enjoying very much. Director John Landis had me hooked with the most entertaining chaos you could ever absorb in the early 80s. He has you laughing with every bit of absurdity, while having you smiling with every given musical number. I was glad we got music icons like James Brown, Ray Charles & Aretha Franklin involved because each of their songs fit into the mold very well. Deep down, it was definitely Franklin’s song ‘Think’ that had the strongest connection to the story and helped the progress significantly. The reason why the given music is essential to the story because it brings things full circle to tell viewers that in life, your calling can come when you least expect it and it will bring out the best in you to solve every problem in front of you. That is exactly why the titular duo are so popular to this day because they have a goal and with so many obstacles in their way, they figure it out how to overcome and succeed. And in between it all, they try to have a good time. Dan Aykroyd & John Belushi were an incredible pair for pulling off making them so entertaining figures throughout. Aykroyd, who co-wrote the script with Landis, portrays Elwood as one who’s the least afraid since he’s willing to drive away from police and commit to his goal. On the other hand, Belushi was great at trying to keep it cool despite the pressure he and his brother are going through. Sure they can be bummed out that they went back to jail after doing the right thing, but they don’t seem to feel such because they’re happy when they make others happy whenever they chose to perform and that looks like enough for them. You can say they had the luck of a cartoon protagonist to survive so much danger that came their way, but that came to show how God was on their side when they least expected it. I was laughing with their cover to 'Rawhide', but man I was fueled with joy when they performed 'Everybody Needs Somebody to Love'. While these two brothers are the stars that stole our hearts, they weren’t the only interesting characters. I was caught off guard with the appearance of Cab Calloway as Curtis, a friend to the brothers that takes part in opening up for them. He is clearly the one who taught them to take life one step at a time and without the guidance they had in their youth, the chapel would’ve not been saved. I can keep on wondering how he changed clothes so fast before his performance, but I couldn’t because him singing ‘Minnie the Moocher’ was too damn delightful. The most random thing I didn’t think I would enjoy from this movie had to be Carrie Fisher as Jake’s ex, credited as the ‘Mystery Woman’. Since this came out in between her tenure as Princess Leia Organa from the original Star Wars trilogy, she pulls a 180 by playing one who is downright homicidal. You want to figure out how she’s equipped with so many weapons, yet you can’t help wondering if she’s gonna succeed as well. Seeing her go from rocket launchers to flame throwers is not something I’d expect in a musical comedy yet I dig it for being willing to go there. The only thing that I was scratching my head about was wondering why no one was reacting in the end when the blues brothers blocked the entrance. That has to be the calmest city hall I’ve ever seen unless we’re talking about John Wick. To wrap up, The Blues Brothers is one of the best musical comedies out there for teaching us to always maintain happiness with music. If music and comedy is the mix you’re looking for, check this out when you can.
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