A reader called last week.
Why, she wondered, hadn’t “Cadillac Records” gotten more attention?
After all, caller Lisa Maury and husband Bill went to the movie about Chicago’s Chess Records when it was released in early December.
Then they went again.
“How does a classic film like this get lost in the shuffle? We invited friends who were equally inspired and confused as to why the theater was almost empty,” the couple wrote in an open letter.
Welcome to my world.
Passion. Hurt feelings. Such can be the wages of movie love. When the films we’re wowed by aren’t met with joy by others, it can be confounding. It’s worse if they’re ignored or derided. An empty theater becomes an affront.
In case you missed it, “Cadillac Records” tells the story of the legendary blues outfit that shaped American popular music as we know it.
Jeffrey Wright stars as Muddy Waters. The Mississippi guitar man relocated from the Delta to Chicago where he met harmonica whiz Little Walter Jacobs. They became the first artists Leonard Chess hired for his “race music” label. Beyonce Knowles plays multi-Hall of Famer Etta James. And Adrien Brody, he of the assertive features and weighted glance, is Chess.
“We would like to give our recommendation for one of the most underrated films of the year” the letter states. “This film is as powerful as ‘Ray.’ (Be prepared to bring tissue for the tears of sorrow and joy.)”
Everyone’s a critic. So the saying goes. The Maurys are something rarer. And their relationship is a testimony to the power of moviegoing in our culture. Of how movies reflect who we are, bring out our personalities, bond us.
It’s also kinda sweet.
The Maurys see upward of 80 movies a year. This is not their DVD diet but time actually spent in local art houses, at the Denver Film Society’s Starz FilmCenter, as well as multiplexes. Rare but not alone; e-mail often comes from avid locals.
I encouraged Lisa Maury to compose some thoughts after she reminded me I’d met her husband, an anesthesiologist, a couple of years back. I didn’t recall the name but remembered being charmed by the story he told me then of their ravenous connoisseurship.
Not only does the couple spend a lot of time in dark theaters, for 10 years they’ve been keeping a journal about the movies they see. They keep one notebook, switching off on who will write the summary. They also give the movie a ranking and at year’s end do a Top 10. (See above right for their 2008 list — and e-mail your own.)
“It’s really wonderful for a relationship,” Lisa Maury says. “You agree to disagree.” For instance, Bill was at “Valkyrie” when we spoke one night. “Having lived in Germany, for me, it’s too powerful,” said Lisa of why she hadn’t gone.
No matter. “You find your relationship becoming richer. You find, whether it’s a good film or a bad film or a mediocre film, you come away with something. It’s a form of education that’s launched us on a wonderful journey.”
People sometimes make the mistake of believing film critics are only interested in our own or our colleagues’ reactions and ideas about movies. Of course, we occasionally encourage readers to believe such hogwash.
There are a number of ways to appreciate movies. Lay reviewers should take advantage of the leeway they have to celebrate how a movie works on them. If the resonance runs deeply personal, so be it. Naked vulnerability is encouraged.
“As a white woman and Army brat who grew up all over the world — primarily in Berlin, Germany — married to a white male from a small town in Iowa, I was struck by the significance of this film from the historical perspective,” Lisa Maury wrote.
“I attended a predominately African American school for first grade when my family lived in Baltimore. I was humbled by the beauty, poverty and intelligence of my classmates. Prejudice and ignorance have always outraged me and I feel ‘Cadillac Records’ is a must see, especially anybody who questions the differences in people just because of the color of their skin and not ‘the content of their character.’ ”
See what I mean? Passion.
For his part, when not putting people to sleep at his day job, Bill plays acoustic guitar.
A defining moment in his life came when he touched Muddy Waters’ shoe. It was at a concert in Iowa the year before the bluesman died. When Bill first met Lisa, he sang her John Prine’s ballad “Angel From Montogomery.” Little wonder this founding chapter of American music history struck a deep, resonant chord.
“We have a 19-year-old son, and we want Elliot to see ‘Cadillac Records’ so he can understand where greatness comes from. As Muddy Waters sums it up in his song — ‘The Blues had a Baby and They Named it Rock and Roll’ “.
In their letter, the Maurys ask a question that reveals how great their — and our — expectations of movies can be and should be.
“Can a film like this shift people’s thoughts and understanding about our differences? As human beings we all have gifts to offer one another. McKinley Morganfield, a.k.a. Muddy Waters, and his fellow musicians gave us gifts that are greater than we could ever imagine.”
The Maurys never quite convinced me their “Cadillac Records” was the same one I saw while on vacation. That film felt hurried, too condensed. But we agreed Eamonn Walker owned every scene he was in as Howlin’ Wolf.
Regardless, their enthusiasm is a testament to how vital film zeal is to the real value of American cinema. I don’t mean the passing fancies of the pandered demographic of young males. They, too, love. I mean the affection that gets young parents to hire baby-sitters or career-track adults to make dates with friends or two committed moviegoers to call their local film critic the morning after Christmas.
“In a nutshell,” the Maurys wrote in a follow-up e-mail, “what we were trying to say is that ‘Cadillac Records’ is a gift and a blessing to all who see it.”
Like critics everywhere, they know there will be folk who don’t see what they saw, who aren’t smitten. It won’t stop them from loving a movie. It certainly won’t stop them from sharing the love.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy: 303-954-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com; also on blogs.denverpostcom /madmoviegoer
Bill and Lisa Maury’s Top 10 of 2008*
“The Lucky Ones”
“How About You”
“Cadillac Records”
“Let the Right One In”
“I’ve Loved You So Long”
“Elegy”
“Trumbo”
“American Teen”
“The Edge of Heaven”
“Milk”
Honorable Mentions: “Roman De Gare,” “Before the Rains,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “Burn After Reading,” and “Charlie Bartlett,” where Robert Downey Jr. carried a movie in which he wasn’t the lead.
*Not ranked in order. Because over the years they’ve learned to agree to disagree on exact ranking.
