THE BLUES BROTHERS (1980) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: John Landis
Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Cab Calloway,
John Candy, Carrie Fisher, Henry Gibson,
Steve Lawrence, Charles Napier, Kathleen Freeman
Driving a recycled squad car and decked out in their trademark black suits, black hats and sunglasses, Joliet Jake and Elwood Blues set out on a mission from God: to put their old band back together and land a gig that will save the gloomy Catholic school they grew up in from closing down. By the time they reach the arena, a gang of Nazis, a redneck country band, Jake's furious ex-girlfriend and the entire Chicago police force are out to kill them. The "Saturday Night Live" routine that inspired this was always a double-edged joke, the setup being that two of the whitest white guys in the universe were singing soul music, and the kicker being that they were getting away with it. The boys knock off a few numbers here, too, while leaving the best musical moments to the real pros - Ray Charles, James Brown, Aretha Franklin and John Lee Hooker. The rest of the picture is big, loud, broadly played mayhem, working on the theory that if destroying a cop car is funny, destroying 100 cop cars will be 100 times as funny. (Strangely, in this case, it's true.) The best Chicago movie ever.
