As seen at AFI Fest 2007:
In Honeydripper, John Sayles points his camera at a
setting that is often ignored by contemporary filmmakers: the
American South of the 1950s. The film focuses on Tyrone “Pine
Top” Purvis (Danny Glover), the soulful old-time proprietor of
the Honeydripper, a bar and club in Harmony, Alabama. Despite
offering the sweet-sounding vocals of long-time house singer
Bertha Mae (Mable John), the Honeydripper seems to be doomed to
failure now that it has to compete with a rival club across the
street, which has installed the young-people-magnet that is a
jukebox. But Pine Top isn’t ready to go down without a fight,
mainly because he is determined to get back at his pompous
landlord, who would much rather use the property for other
purposes. In order to bring in some desperately-needed revenue,
Pine Top, against his own personal musical beliefs, books
rock-‘n-roll hit-maker Guitar Sam to play a show at the
Honeydripper.
By the time that the day of the
concert rolls around, circumstances change, as expected. The
real Guitar Sam is nowhere to be found. In order to still put on
a show, Pine Top pulls a fast one and hires aspiring young
guitarist Sonny (Gary Clark Jr.), who first came to the
Honeydripper looking for a job after randomly ending up in
Harmony, to pretend as if he is Guitar Sam. This, of course,
also proves a challenge in and of itself. After coming to town,
Sonny is arrested by a racist cop for wandering around aimlessly
without being employed. Tyrone must buy Sonny out of his labor
sentence, in which Sonny picks cotton alongside dozens of other
innocent black men, for the night. After much hoopla, Sonny is
finally able to give the gig a try.
Structurally and thematically,
Honeydripper is Sayles’ most straightforward film to date.
Regardless of this, the movie has a lot to say. Its depiction of
black culture in a setting of extreme racial tension is subtle,
factual, and extremely affecting. The viewer comes to care for
the film’s characters as people, and this makes the
discrimination that they endure seem all the more disgusting.
And, still, the movie is hardly as much about race relations in
America as it is about the joyous, healing effect of music.
Rock-‘n-roll functions as a prominent character in and of itself
in Honeydripper, providing an equal amount of context for
the film as the cut-and-dry historical elements do. No one song
is particularly striking so much as the work as a whole is:
Sayles makes sure to thoroughly explore the effect and
consequence of simple rhythm.
Meanwhile, the humanity found in
Honeydripper is also undeniably moving, with rich, poignant
performances coming from nearly every member of the cast. In the
lead role, Glover is a revelation. As much as I hate the man’s
politics and life outside of Hollywood, it is impossible for me
to deny the raw power of his interpretation of Pine Top. In more
ways than one, the character has a tormented soul during the
film’s first two acts; to observe the manner in which Glover
depicts his transformation of healing as the plot progresses is
something of a miracle. Also exceptionally impressive efforts
found in the ensemble are those of Clark Jr.; Lisa Gay Hamilton
as Pine Top’s wife, Delilah; and Yaya DaCosta as Pine Top’s
daughter, China Doll.
For Sayles, the film is clearly a
deeply personal passion-project (then again, when has one of his
efforts not been?); his care for his characters and the story
that they embody is evident in every frame. Because of this,
Honeydripper always strikes the viewer as an incredibly
pleasant work. It softly builds to create a very enjoyable,
accomplished mix of history, emotion, and art. While I am
hesitant to call it a great film because of the fact that it
ultimately lacks consequence, I certainly recommend it to just
about everyone. Rarely do crowd-pleasers have as much heart or
as much intellect as Honeydripper does.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 11.21.2007
Screened on: 11.4.2007 at an AFI Fest 2007 screening at
the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood, CA.
