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The Blues Brothers
Jake Blues gets out of prison a bit early thanks to good behavior. He joins his Elwood in a crappy car and they go to see Sister Mary ”The Penguin” Stigmata. She gives a task of gaining 5000 dollars to save the boarding school they grew up in. The only problem? They have to do it the honest way. Can they get the money earnestly together with their blues band or do they have to take more extreme measures?
The Blues Brothers defines the word ”cool”. Terrific music throughout, wildly chaotic car chases plus the right mix of highkey and lowkey comedy. But most of all it's the duo of Jake and Elwood which has given it the reputation it has. They are so levelheaded throughout that even when someone tries to outright blow them up, they carry on like nothing has happened. They don't let barriers push them down, they break through every barrier with a crash. Elwood is granted the more optimistic one of the two, but both of them work together very hard and find a solution to any problem no matter how hopeless it may seem. Their nice, brotherly friendship helps make this film as memorable as it is. Dan Aykroyd gives a great straightfaced performance and his deadpan delivery of the lines makes them all the funnier. I'd never seen anything with John Belushi before, but he makes a strong first impression on me. He's simply hysterical as Jake, and provides most of the comedy in the film with his character's crazy impulses such as singing passionately in an all-black church and his rendition of the Rawhide theme. I also love how convincingly he tricks his ex-wife (played by the equally brilliant Carrie Fisher) into sparing him and his brother by giving such a heartfelt speech I wondered if they suddenly were gonna patch things up, only for him to literally throw her in the mud instead.
Of course though, what would a movie about blues be without the music? We have cameos from legends like Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, James Brown and Aretha Franklin, who all get a chance to shine musically as well as comedically. Franklin's musical number is both amusing and incredibly sung and Ray Charles is charming as the friendly, but slightly greedy instrument shop owner. Aykroyd and Belushi sing surprisingly well when they finally arrive at their own concert they are late to (you'll know why once you see it) with the song Everybody Needs Somebody To Love. Like every catchy tune, it got stuck in my head like a suction cup.
Although it's not the funniest 80's comedy I've seen, it's one of the most entertaining ones to watch.
Jake Blues gets out of prison a bit early thanks to good behavior. He joins his Elwood in a crappy car and they go to see Sister Mary ”The Penguin” Stigmata. She gives a task of gaining 5000 dollars to save the boarding school they grew up in. The only problem? They have to do it the honest way. Can they get the money earnestly together with their blues band or do they have to take more extreme measures?
The Blues Brothers defines the word ”cool”. Terrific music throughout, wildly chaotic car chases plus the right mix of highkey and lowkey comedy. But most of all it's the duo of Jake and Elwood which has given it the reputation it has. They are so levelheaded throughout that even when someone tries to outright blow them up, they carry on like nothing has happened. They don't let barriers push them down, they break through every barrier with a crash. Elwood is granted the more optimistic one of the two, but both of them work together very hard and find a solution to any problem no matter how hopeless it may seem. Their nice, brotherly friendship helps make this film as memorable as it is. Dan Aykroyd gives a great straightfaced performance and his deadpan delivery of the lines makes them all the funnier. I'd never seen anything with John Belushi before, but he makes a strong first impression on me. He's simply hysterical as Jake, and provides most of the comedy in the film with his character's crazy impulses such as singing passionately in an all-black church and his rendition of the Rawhide theme. I also love how convincingly he tricks his ex-wife (played by the equally brilliant Carrie Fisher) into sparing him and his brother by giving such a heartfelt speech I wondered if they suddenly were gonna patch things up, only for him to literally throw her in the mud instead.
Of course though, what would a movie about blues be without the music? We have cameos from legends like Ray Charles, Cab Calloway, James Brown and Aretha Franklin, who all get a chance to shine musically as well as comedically. Franklin's musical number is both amusing and incredibly sung and Ray Charles is charming as the friendly, but slightly greedy instrument shop owner. Aykroyd and Belushi sing surprisingly well when they finally arrive at their own concert they are late to (you'll know why once you see it) with the song Everybody Needs Somebody To Love. Like every catchy tune, it got stuck in my head like a suction cup.
Although it's not the funniest 80's comedy I've seen, it's one of the most entertaining ones to watch.