Movie Breakdown: The High Note (Noah)

Pre-Screening Stance:

It’s been a while since I’ve reviewed a movie. Hell, it’s been a while since I’ve watched a film without thinking “I hope this numbs the weirdness.” The High Note looks to be a fairly fluffy dramedy set in the world of make believe music featuring a cast of people I generally enjoy. I’m just easing myself back in.

Post-Screening Ramble:

The High Note is exactly what you think it’s going to be – a lightweight rags-to-riches music story about a fading pop star (Tracee Ellis-Ross) and her producer-turned-assistant (Dakota Johnson) who helps her climb back to the top. To put it frankly: it tastes pretty good and it goes down real easy. Ellis-Ross’s Grace Davis is a sort of amalgamation of Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey – R&B staples who have coasted on their most famous successes for a decade with no seeming want of doing anything but minting money. Maggie (Dakota Johnson) is the typical harried assistant – buying juice, flying in private planes, getting her name forgotten – with a dream to be something else: a producer. Ice Cube plays Grace Davis’s manager (and the closest thing to a villain in the film), who wants to stay on the top of the money pile, creativity be damned. To say the least, new songs are produced, careers are made, Ice Cube acts like a tough guy and there’s even a romance with a surprise twist. It is nothing new, but it is enjoyable nonetheless. Nisha Ganatra makes the movie glow with the sort of warm nostalgia not of a certain era of time, but of a certain era of Hollywood filmmaking where every character lives in an apartment the size of a mansion and the sun is seemingly always just about to set. To Ganatra’s credit though, none of the character’s are particularly well-developed, none of them terribly one-note either. Ellis-Ross manages to flesh out the role of diva with a realistic warmth. Dakota Johnson is a charming presence in all of her films and she will hopefully someday break out just a touch more. The High Note is exactly what you think it’s going to be, or, even better, as said by my girlfriend, “It’s exactly what you need right now.”

One Last Thought:

Diplo’s character in this film is weirdly funny. Which is surprising to me.