Review of Cadillac Records (2008) by Stephen W — 19 Feb 2009

As the casting suggests, most contemporary R'n'B - and all rock 'n' roll (the Stones have a funny cameo) - started here, which is why it sometimes feels as though Martin's trying to squeeze the contents of an entire box set into a single, two-hour primer: Howlin' Wolf disappears too soon, and though Beyonce is a revelation, previously unheard-of curse words flying from her lips, Etta James almost certainly deserves a biopic of her own.

Still, as a digest of Martin Scorsese's blues documentaries (complete with Alan Lomax cameo and Eric Bogosian as Arthur Freed), or a brash, showbizzy appropriation of the themes of John Sayles' "Honeydripper", it's lovingly designed and performed in exactly the right spirit, cueing up the hits for a new generation while taking as much pleasure in a Cadillac's tail fin as there is to be found in a risque rhyming couplet.