Idlewild

Idlewild (2006) focuses on two childhood friends, Rooster and Percival, and their diverging though related paths in life. One stays close to home and works in his father's funeral parlor, though he also nurses his musical talent and works on the side in a speakeasy. The other ends up running the speakeasy. These roles are played by the two main members of Outkast, Andre Benjamin and Big Boi. Both are great in their roles, especially Benjamin as Percival, the son of the undertaker.

Idlewild is distinguished by visual flair—flashy, frenetic dance numbers; an effective fusion of cinematography and music, an impressive use of digital effects that speed or slow the action, place emphasis on different characters, or lend tension to a scene. The music throughout is a major strength. In many ways the best music and dance sequence in the film comes during the closing credits, although there is a stunning sequence early in the film.

The film is set in a small Georgia town named Idlewild. It is just the opposite of the town associated with the New York airport formerly of the same name, though the club that is the center of the town—at least for the characters in the film—offers as much action as one could find anywhere in New York.

Idlewild did not receive particularly strong reviews. One reason may be that it seems something like a folktale or fairy story. It gives the effect of realism without being realistic—how could a club like the one in this film exist in the remote hinterlands of rural Georgia in the early decades of the 20^th century? The film reminded me in ways of the folk ballad "Frankie and Johnny" and even of Toni Morrison's novel Jazz, which is like a folk or blues song set in high literary form. Idlewild brims with magical realism. One example is the flask of liquor that Rooster (Big Boi) carries with him throughout the film. It is emblazoned with the image of a rooster that talks to the owner of the flask throughout the film. Another example: when Percival looks at the pages of music he has composed, the notes become stick figures that walk and dance across the page. Several characters seem drawn deliberately larger than life: Terrence Howard as Trumpy is an especially vicious gangster who uses threats, violence, and murder to get what he wants. The musical styles of Outkast are laid on top of, combined with, musical styles of the time period of the film. The same is true of dance. In this sense the film suggests Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge (2001), which combines dance and music styles from different time periods. There are scenes every bit as phantasmagorical in Idlewild as those in Moulin Rouge.

Another reason for the lack of critical acclaim may be that Idlewild might seem a film more of music, visual imagery, and style than of substance. Other recent African American films such as ATL and Stomp the Yard explored a number of contemporary issues important to African Americans: questions of class and economic tension, of assimilation, of personal responsibility. One can find those issues, by looking carefully, in Idlewild—one example is Percival's struggle to break out of his staid rut to assert himself as a musician and composer--but they are largely overwhelmed by the spectacle of the film. Spectacle, however, is no mean thing.

Idlewild begins with images of sepia-toned photographs of African American culture in the early 20^th century. One of the points in these photographs is to make clear that the story about to be told is from the past, part of history, and as such is a part of African American tradition. I noticed a Eudora Welty photgraph in the sequence. In ways Rooster and Percival represent different aspects of the African American struggle for success and respectability in a predominantly white world (though there is virtually no evidence of that world in the film). Rooster at first chooses the life of a gangster, running whiskey and working in a speakeasy. Percival is attracted to the wild life, but sticks close to home, working for his father and playing piano in the speakeasy on the side. He represents loyalty to place and to family, to tradition, but only by breaking with these virtues in the end is he able to give full expression to his talent.

This may be the first major production directed by Bryan Barber. He apparently had his start as a director of Outkast music videos. He has much promise. Idlewild comes across as the work of an experienced and confident director. Cinematography is one of the film's strongest elements. It's immensely entertaining.

Idlewild is the best musical I've seen since Moulin Rouge.