He allows them to do their thing in the recording studio, and then goes out promoting their work. ADRIEN BRODY plays a white owner of a nightclub in a black section of Chicago who decides to start a record label featuring black artists.WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For pervasive language and some sexuality. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of anyone in the cast and/or the singers and musicians portrayed by them, they just might. Leonard's financial gamble worries his wife, Revetta (EMMANUELLE CHRIQUI), while Muddy's philandering ways don't sit well with his wife back home, Geneva (GABRIELLE UNION), but their work eventually pays off handsomely, allowing Leonard to sign other performers such as harmonica man Little Walter (COLUMBUS SHORT), intense singer Howlin' Wolf (EAMONN WALKER), as well as songwriter Willie Dixon (CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER) whose work takes the artists to new heights.Īs the years wear on, Leonard signs other performers, including Chuck Berry (MOS DEF) and then Etta James (BEYONCE KNOWLES), but must contend with Muddy's jealousy and declining record sales along with his artists' various predicaments, all in an era of continued racism and segregation. The latter is so good that following the club's convenient demise by fire, Leonard opens up Chess Records in the 1950s, recording and then promoting Muddy's music around the country. PLOT: Leonard Chess (ADRIEN BRODY) is a white man in 1940s era Chicago who opens a nightclub in a black neighborhood, eventually getting sharecropper turned amazing guitarist and singer Muddy Waters (JEFFREY WRIGHT) to play there. QUICK TAKE: Drama: A white record producer recruits, records and then promotes various black singers and musicians during the racially turbulent 1950s and '60s. (2008) (Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright) (R)
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