This week in my attempt to find a movie to get me through a pandemic, I checked out The High Note. The film follows a 40-something black pop singer named Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross looking so much like her mother there were moments I thought I was watching Lady Sings the Blues) and her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who secretly wants to be a producer.
The movie begins with Maggie driving around Los Angeles running errands for Davis before eventually having to pick her up from a private jet with her manager, Jack (a gruff but lovable Ice Cube). In Maggie’s spare time, she hangs in a studio and quietly remixes her employer’s live album. Only problem is nobody knows.
Davis fears becoming outdated, and it doesn’t help that her manager is encouraging her to take a Vegas residency. It pays well, but it’s usually a landing spot for has-been artists.
In the meantime, while Maggie is running errands, she runs into a charismatic singer (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), which spawns one of those forced Hollywood music convos (the kind where the writer wants to sound cool AF when they rundown a list of favorite songs about California).
Maggie loves his music and wonders why he seems to live in a big-ass mansion even though he only plays at local grocery stores and bat mitzvahs. Honestly, the plot twist as to who this kid is as obvious as Shaquille O’Neal wearing neon colors, but it’s cool.
The movie shows Davis’ stress as she looks to make new music, but is caught in the reality that her audience is more interested in her past. She wants to go ahead with a new album regardless, and Maggie agrees. Her manager doesn’t want new music because of the uncertainty, and thinks the Vegas residency is the safe move.
For the most part, Ross plays the role perfectly (and she’s beautiful to boot). When she gets into an argument with Maggie about how difficult it is to be a black woman in her 40s, trying to make a living in an unforgiving music world, her tears didn’t feel like acting. They feel like sentiments she might have seen mother Diana live through in real life.
The cool part is that the actors are actually singing the tunes in the movie. It’s not as impressive as the songs on last year’s A Star Is Born (minus Lady Gaga, because that’s what she does) but it’s cool nonetheless.
All of the various plot points that a review might spoil are pretty much things you know all along. But despite this predictability, and much of the movie giving into cheesy moments (such as Maggie plugging in a USB midi to show she’s a producer), the fun performances from Ross and Cube are worth the price of admission — or the rental fee.
This week in my attempt to find a movie to get me through a pandemic, I checked out The High Note. The film follows a 40-something black pop singer named Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross looking so much like her mother there were moments I thought I was watching Lady Sings the Blues) and her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who secretly wants to be a producer.
The movie begins with Maggie driving around Los Angeles running errands for Davis before eventually having to pick her up from a private jet with her manager, Jack (a gruff but lovable Ice Cube). In Maggie’s spare time, she hangs in a studio and quietly remixes her employer’s live album. Only problem is nobody knows.
Davis fears becoming outdated, and it doesn’t help that her manager is encouraging her to take a Vegas residency. It pays well, but it’s usually a landing spot for has-been artists.
In the meantime, while Maggie is running errands, she runs into a charismatic singer (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), which spawns one of those forced Hollywood music convos (the kind where the writer wants to sound cool AF when they rundown a list of favorite songs about California).
Maggie loves his music and wonders why he seems to live in a big-ass mansion even though he only plays at local grocery stores and bat mitzvahs. Honestly, the plot twist as to who this kid is as obvious as Shaquille O’Neal wearing neon colors, but it’s cool.
The movie shows Davis’ stress as she looks to make new music, but is caught in the reality that her audience is more interested in her past. She wants to go ahead with a new album regardless, and Maggie agrees. Her manager doesn’t want new music because of the uncertainty, and thinks the Vegas residency is the safe move.
For the most part, Ross plays the role perfectly (and she’s beautiful to boot). When she gets into an argument with Maggie about how difficult it is to be a black woman in her 40s, trying to make a living in an unforgiving music world, her tears didn’t feel like acting. They feel like sentiments she might have seen mother Diana live through in real life.
The cool part is that the actors are actually singing the tunes in the movie. It’s not as impressive as the songs on last year’s A Star Is Born (minus Lady Gaga, because that’s what she does) but it’s cool nonetheless.
All of the various plot points that a review might spoil are pretty much things you know all along. But despite this predictability, and much of the movie giving into cheesy moments (such as Maggie plugging in a USB midi to show she’s a producer), the fun performances from Ross and Cube are worth the price of admission — or the rental fee.
The High Note is available via video-on-demand.
