martiniboys event calendar «»January 2009 Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

The filmmakers focus on the beats as much as possible. Indeed most of the contrived plot makes little to no sense. With a fun rotation of characters portrayed by a quality cast: Ving Rhames and Faizon Love hold their own, while Ben Vereen, Cicely Tyson, Patti LaBelle and Macy Gray get little more than cameos. Idlewild keeps a be-bopping pace that lags only during a few sadly melodramatic moments

The film's writer-director Bryan Barber (known for his music videos) and his cast display so much gusto that it's difficult to keep up. Idlewild is not for everyone, and it's a bit of a mess, but an extremely imaginative mess, and a good push for a pair of blazing talents reaching for the stars.

Idlewild isn't even a new movie; the film was shot two years ago and has been sitting on the shelf while Universal figured out how to sell it. I'm not sure what OutKast fans will make of it, but Idlewild may just sell itself thanks to the stars and the trippy visual flair. - S.W.