Review of The Blues Brothers (1980) by Ben L — 01 Dec 2016

To set the stage, it is probably worth mentioning that I have never been a regular viewer of SNL, so I was only familiar with the characters of The Blues Brothers tangentially through passing references in pop culture. I genuinely didn't know what to expect with their film, and was somewhat surprised by what I got. There are really 3 big aspects to this film that a viewer can enjoy, and 2 of them worked great. Sadly, the one aspect of The Blues Brothers that didn't click for me was probably the most important one...the comedy. I didn't find the humor all that funny. I might have chuckled once after a prat fall. But most of the silly behavior and other odd things they included, while I could see they were shooting for a laugh, didn't elicit one from me. The joy of this film is that it doesn't rely totally on those jokes that fell flat. The 2nd big aspect of the movie is that it has some superb music. They sprinkle legendary singers throughout the cast and give them the opportunity to show what truly great music is all about. These musical breaks were by far the high points of The Blues Brothers, and had me tapping my toes. What took me completely by surprise was the 3rd big element you will find throughout The Blues Brothers...the quantity, length, and complexity of the car chases. I would guess that at least half the budget must have gone to getting cars to wreck and stunt drivers, because these scenes are everywhere in the film. I'm always impressed by genuine (pre-computer graphics) stunts, and these drivers pulled off some great ones.

While there were a couple elements of the film that I liked, I had a struggle identifying with or caring about the main characters. This film features a pair of protagonists who are the worst con men ever, they are criminals, and they seem uncaring about hurting the people around them. In other words, they're selfish jerks. Then they use the excuse of "a mission from God" to justify their continued selfish actions. We are presented with a motive that is supposed to appear altruistic so that we will be on their side, but I didn't see the virtue in this Catholic home that made it such a worthy cause. Of course, I have to remember this is all comedy. As a result, I'm probably putting too much thought and logic into the setup and just need to roll with it. Yet, even in a comedy, I feel like they owe me the opportunity of liking the protagonists. Complaints aside, there was enough fun stuff going on in The Blues Brothers that I enjoyed watching it. It's certainly not a film I will seek out again, but I think I can see the elements that made many people fall in love with the characters back in the 80s.