Roger Ebert started out his review by saying, “This is
some weird movie. There's never been anything that looked quite like it; was it
dreamed up in a junkyard?” It stars the late John Belushi (James Belushi's older brother) and Dan Aykroyd as
the Blues Brothers, Jake and Elwood, characters who were created on “Saturday
Night Live” and took on a historic life of their own. The movie is about
something of their backgrounds: Ebert said, “The movie tells us something of
their backgrounds: They were reared in a sadistic West Side orphanage, learned
the blues by osmosis, and, as the movie opens, have teamed up again after
Jake's release from the Joliet pen.”
The movie’s story is very simple, to put it slightly. The
brothers visit their old orphanage, learn that its future is in jeopardy
because of five thousand dollars due in back taxes, and seek to raise the money
by getting their old band together and putting on a show. Their journey takes
them to several dishonest Chicago locations, including a Van Buren flophouse,
Maxwell Street, and lower Wacker Drive. They find their old friends in strange
places, like a restaurant run by Aretha Franklin, a music store run by Ray
Charles, and a gospel church run by James Brown.
Their drives include encounters with suburban cops, local
guys, and Nazis who are trying to stage a demonstration. Ebert noted, “One of
the intriguing things about this movie is the way it borrows so freely and
literally from news events. The plot develops into a sort of musical Mad Mad
Mad Mad World, with the Blues Brothers being pursued at the same time by
avenging cops, Nazis, and an enraged country and western band led by Charles
Napier, that character actor with the smile like Jaws.” The chase is
interrupted here and there for songs, which are mostly very good and filled
with so much energy.
Aretha Franklin has one of the movie’s best scenes, in
her South Side soul food restaurant. Cab Calloway, as a type of road manager
for the Blues Brothers, braces through a wonderful old-style production of Minnie
the Moocher. The Brothers themselves sing several unlikely songs. The funniest
has the band playing Rawhide in a country and western bar where a
wire fence has been installed to protect the band from beer bottles thrown by
the patrons.
Ebert noted, “I was saying the musical numbers
interrupt the chases.” In actuality, the whole movie is a chase, with Jake and
Elwood driving a used police car that seems, as it cruises across suspension
bridges from one side to the other, to have the ability to move itself. Ebert
mentioned, “There can rarely have been a movie that made so free with its
locations as this one. There are incredible, sensational chase sequences under
the elevated train tracks, on overpasses, in subway tunnels under the Loop, and
literally through Daley Center. One crash in particular, a pileup involving maybe
a dozen police cars, has to be seen to be believed: I've never seen stunt
coordination like this before.”
What’s a little surprising about this movie is that
everything works. “The Blues Brothers” cost an untold amount of money and kept
threatening to getting completely out of control. However, director John Landis
has somehow made it all work, with a good amount of help from the strongly
defined personalities of the protagonists. Ebert said, “Belushi and Aykroyd
come over as hard-boiled city guys, total cynics with a world-view of sublime
simplicity, and that all fits perfectly with the movie's other parts.” There’s
even room, in the middle of the chaos and massacre, for a great amount of
grace, humor, and oddness.
You shouldn’t even be reading this review if you haven’t
seen this movie yet. Go out and see it now. This is one of the best comedies
ever made. I never knew this was based on a famous SNL sketch, but this has
stood the test of time. My brother and dad really love this movie, as I do too.
This film has the famous quote, “We’re on a mission from God.” Everything that
was shot was real and you will have a great time laughing, especially seeing
Kathleen Freeman as “The Penguin,” the nun who leads the orphanage, and even a
chase by Carrie Fisher. All these great famous singers either make a cameo or
star in this film, and you will probably know who each of them are. This film
embodies the 80s, so don’t miss your chance to see this great comedy. I have been meaning to check out Chicago to see the famous spots they shot this film, but I haven't had a chance yet. One day I will because that is what Chicago is famous for.
Next week, I will be looking at another funny movie in
“Dan Aykroyd Month.”
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