Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Baseshment
I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Aedonerre
I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.
SnoopyStyle
Percival Jenkins (André 3000) and Rooster (Big Boi) are childhood friends. Percival works at his father's (Ben Vereen) morgue, and playing piano at a club called Church owned by Sunshine Ace (Faizon Love). Meanwhile Rooster gambles, parties and gets married to Zora (Malinda Williams). He also performs at the Church Club. Set in the prohibition era, this is wild fun if you can follow the story.There is no doubt that music video director Bryan Barber has a vision. But it's too wild to sit through for 2 hours. I lasted about 5 minutes before it becomes system overload. André Benjamin is a plausible lead actor, but he can't maintain the attention of the audience in this tiring story. Ultimately, this is unwatchable although it is interesting to watch for awhile.
ellendericks
I was completely struck by this movie and I am the type of person that doesn't remember the movie the day after seeing it. For maybe the first time ever, I would have watched this movie 2 times in a row. The characters were very interesting and the acting by the guys from Outkast, especially Andre 3000 was excellent. The music was excellent and truly added to the film. The cinematography was so interesting. Just watching the opening credits you will see what I mean. A must see for anyone!! The film follows the life of 2 friends growing up and into a life of speakeasies, bootlegging, and gangster crime. Of course they both had very different levels of involvement in it. i loved the way that the characters were able to overcome obstacles in their way to meet their true destiny
ptb-8
This visually splendid production is a wannabe musical stew of CABARET, COTTON CLUB, LADY SINGS THE BLUES, STORMY WEATHER and MOULIN ROUGE, and about 20 other musical films equally handsomely produced, exquisitely photographed,choreographed, dressed, directed and cast... except for one massive fatal flaw: an insane level of head smashing violence! What is it in this ugly 'culture of death' that is now permeating everything in American films? ......here is a film all dressed up and ready to dance and entertain in a clever slick manner, and it derails itself into the most appalling insulting scenes of one-on-one face pulverizing, blood splattering, head crushing bullet riddled violence. I just sat watching this could-be-terrific gangster musical version of Moulin Rouge only to see this rotten stupid cruelty ruin what was trying to be a great snazzy 30s dance musical.... the music numbers are great and I shall only keep the DVD to show friends these: the "Bowtie" number early in is terrific... and several other brief ones are all really good..... and how to I incredulously tell you this: there is a spectacular, jaw-dropping massive number, a combo of the finale from Stormy Weather and Born To Dance... and guess what happens: the credits are run all over the top of it: you actually cannot enjoy the dynamite spectacle because: there is words plastered all over it>>>>>!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Never in all my years of filmgoing have I ever seen a film so sabotaged by inept decisions. What a waste, Whoever decided to pulverize the film with violence and run the credits over the top of what is arguably the most dazzling dance number seen in a film in the last 10 years... well they should be relegated to Adam Sandler or Eli Roth films and chained to a chair there. What an absolute waste of talent and production is IDLEWILD. Irritating and saddening. Who would decide to film a massive dance number and hide it under the end credits? How to drive the audience wild with irritation! So somewhere with blood slopped all over it and marred by punching, shooting and crushing is a superbly crafted production... and when it really kicks into gear: it has words like: "Payroll Clerk: Fred Bloggs" plastered all over it..... ARRGGGHHHH! Ruined.
harrin30
Does anyone realize that there is a place in Michiga called "Idlewild"? It can still be found just off of highway 10 which runs from east to west connecting Bay City to Ludington. For many years it was considered a ghost town, rumor has it that the mayor of Detroit is trying to revive it as resort community again. In it's day it was a famous resort for middle and upper class blacks before World War 2? Many well known blues and jazz musicians were hired to perform there for the entertainment of the vacationers. I find it disappointing that the movie is set in the South when it has been given "Idlewild" as a title. It's a shame that the name of a true historical place with all that history attached to it is being inaccurately portrayed.
