The Digest
Devon Miles has managed to spend his young life getting by on his looks, charm, and drum talent. This works very well for the Harlem native when it comes to scoring a full band scholarship and landing on the campus of (the fictional) Atlanta A&T college and catching the eye of upper classmen and head dancer, Laila (Zoe Saldana). But not everyone at A&T is seduced by his charm or his percussion talent. Even though he probably is the best snare drummer at band camp, he has to follow the rules like everyone else. He really needs to learn that there is no "I" in team. A hard lesson to get through that cocky head of his.
This lesson is constantly hammered home by his band leader, Dr. Lee (Orlando Jones). even though Dr. Lee is under pressure to win the $50,000 B.E.T classic, he still adheres to the mantra - "One Band, One Sound" and beyond teaching his students that they are all one cohesive group, he feels the need to stay true to musicianship and not showmanship, but showmanship is what wins contests and that what the Dean of the college wants.
Deep in his heart, Dr. Lee knows he has to succumb to showmanship in order to win the B.E.T Classic, but it goes against every fiber of his being and he must now turn to the one person who can fulfill that goal - Devon. But turning to Devon means that Dr. Lee has to go back on his word, something he is uncomfortable with. It also means that Dr. Lee runs the risk of disrupting the whole drum line because they are sick of Devon's antics. But perhaps Devon has matured enough to handle the situation without the whole band having to pay the price. There is only one why to find out. Will Dr. Lee go back on his word and can Devon live up to the challenge?
The Dish
How do you explain to someone what it is like to "step" in front of a crowd or what it is like to watch the "battle of the bands" at half-time? You can't. Not without doing it any justice. In your explanation, you can't convey the energy that whips the crowd into a frenzy. It's almost like the moments before an electrical storm - your hair stands on end; your heart beats faster because of the adrenaline rush; and your ears pop because of the pressure change in the air. Now you can
go stand out in the middle of a corn field and wait to get your ass zapped by lightening OR you and your entire family can go see Drumline.
While formulaic and not unlike almost every single sports film out there, Drumline accurately portrays what is like to be present at the battle of the bands. But beyond that, I was more impressed with an honest peek at the life of black college students. No one was high or oversexed. No one got sloppy drunk or nor were there any stupid antics. These kids were driven, smart, and clearly at school to get an education.
I was most impressed with young Nick Cannon as Devon and Orlando Jones as Dr. Lee. While Cannon's acting style was a tiny bit limited, I did believe him to be a expert drummer and I felt his pain when he confronted his father, it was almost as if he had really experienced that. Why was I so impressed with Orlando Jones? Well for one thing I don't find him to be that funny, so for him to not be cracking lame jokes, was a blessing. I was able to get behind Dr. Lee's nerdiness. It was endearing because he really didn't realize how outgunned he was and that in itself was cute. I'm come on, responding to a band challenge by playing "Flight of the Bumblebees" after the challenger has just thrown down some heavy duty funk. That was cute.
I do have a few complaints, though. As I said, it as extremely formulaic. We have seen this movie a dozen times, it's just usually about a football quarterback. There were some corny moments that kinda made my eyes roll nut thankfully, this was not very often. Also, I couldn't "feel" the drums and the band scenes weren't long enough - I wanted more.
The Directive
Grab your girlfriend and your grandmama and enjoy the show. And when the soundtrack comes out, buy it. When the video comes out, buy 2 of them.
When you leave the theater, you leave wore out like you just spent 2
hrs at a concert. And you will too.
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Copyright Kamal "The Diva" Larsuel-Ulbricht, 2002
EMAIL: thediva@3blackchicks.com
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