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Poster for Honeydripper

Honeydripper

This Better Be Some Saturday Night!

2007 · 2h 4m · PG-13 Drama, Music
Directed by John Sayles

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Overview

In 1950s Alabama, the owner of the Honeydripper juke joint finds his business dropping off and against his better judgment, hires a young electric guitarist in a last ditch effort to draw crowds during harvest time.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
69%
Tomatometer
Fresh

While this may not be the rowdiest birth-of-rock-'n'-roll film ever made -- it's very likely the least rowdy -- Sayles addresses a transitional moment in his own patient, precise way.

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
Fresh

It survives on its versatile leads, its smoky cinematography (courtesy of Dick Pope) and its seductive musical performances, which run from gospel to jazz to blues to the to the electrifying kick-start of early rock 'n' roll.

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle
Fresh

Even more than the music in this musically rich picture, the great pleasure of Honeydripper is in watching Danny Glover as Tyrone Purvis, the club owner.

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
Rotten

Although Honeydripper won a screenplay award at the San Sebastian Film Festival, it's not Sayles' strongest work. Part of the problem is that it keeps building to a rock-'n'-roll payoff that never quite arrives.

John Hartl, Seattle Times
Rotten

Trudging nobly under a mantle of impeccably earnest intentions and a fussy, too-quaint-by-half production design, Honeydripper lags and drags to its utterly predictable end. There's not a spark of spontaneity or soul about it.

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

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