Duets (2000)

Better than the average music-oriented movie

You will never hear "Free Bird" the same way again after you've heard Andre Braugher in this movie.

With most movies that are musically oriented, you expect the equivalent of cotton candy. This is the kind of movie that you will think about years after you first see it. I know I have.

Besides, you've got Paul Giamatti doing his whacked out thing better than he does it in any other movie, including Sideways, Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow dueting on "Cruising" -- violence, romance, buddy banter, what's not to like?

Get this movie if you are interested in something a little deeper than just two hours to pass the time. April 12, 2008

entertaining...

I enjoyed the movie; it had great actors in it. Some people would say its not that great but if you want a "sit back and enjoy" -its really good. My favorite part of course is the duet Paul Giamatti does - Try a Little Tenderness - they did so well, they could have cut a record! I liked it. January 3, 2008

A little 2-dmensional, but the singing will knock your socks off!

"Duets" is what my cinematically aware friends call a "sleeper". Most people in my circle never heard of it, but when they see it, enjoy the heck out of it. What makes it great is (1) the singing and (2) the amazing assemblage of acting talent, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti, Maria Bello. And Huey Lewis isn't bad, either.

The biggest flaws are Gwyneth's gangly, toothy, goody-two-shoes character; the contrived father-daughter conflict scenes between her and Huey; and his obligatory character change at the end, so they can sing the final duet together.

But who cares? The singing will absolutely blow you away. Gwyneth and Maria do their own, and they are fabulous, especially Gwyneth. What a set of pipes! She's the daughter of Blythe Danner, and inherited her vocal ability. (As far as a "who knew she could sing?" revelation, her performance rates right up there with Michelle Pfeiffer's in "The Fabulous Baker Boys".)

I'm not sure if Paul Giamatti did his own singing, but it sounds like him. Even if he's overdubbed by someone else, his singing performances are wonderful. The "Try a Little Tenderness" duet with him and Andre Braugher (dubbed) is to die for.

Get the DVD so you can watch the bonus features. If your player has the "angle" feature, it's fascinating to switch back and forth during the Huey-Gwyneth duet and compare the film version with the actual recording session. (I like her much better without makeup.) October 10, 2007

Great Roadtrip Film

I would have to say "Duets" is a worthwhile film. It is probably one of the great roadtrip films that is right up there with "The Sweetest Thing", "Sideways", and "Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion". The film focuses around three mismatched duos who share one thing in common-Karaoke. Despite their different lifestyles and attitudes, they have one objective in mind and that is to compete in the national Karaoke competition in Omaha. September 21, 2007

Better Than American Idol!

Winning at karaoke might not seem like a promising theme for a movie. It might initially strike you as providing as flimsy a foundation for drama as Sylvester Stallone's movie about arm-wrestling. But this movie works. And unless you are a devotee of karaoke, it will probably also surprise you. It will make you aware that there's a whole subculture out there that, like the world of pool players, is filled with hustlers, fans, newbies who become addicts, and a host of other colorful characters.

"Duets" isn't perfect though. It generally adopts an up-beat tone as it follows the stories of a variety of people who all converge for the finale at a high-stakes karaoke contest. The individual stories tend to be as life-affirming as the interweaving stories in movies such as "Grand Canyon." However, some jarring elements seep through. And in fact, the bonus commentary reveals that this movie was adapted from a novel consisting of violent, surreal episodes. Some scenes with that slant were indeed shot, but the director wisely chose to relegate them to the "Deleted Scenes" pile. If they had been included, the whole movie would have been derailed into some nihilistic view of a world ruled by random acts of brutality. As it is, this original conception of the material is only hinted at in the mysterious truncation of certain scenes and in a few leaps in narrative logic.

However, these minor flaws are more than compensated for by what became the overall arc of this movie. Most particularly, the chemistry between the players here is wonderful and universally redeeming. Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis as daughter and father have a real spark between them. Paul Giamatti as the escapee from suburbia and Andre Braugher as the hitchhiker he picks up similarly develop an unlikely, but very real rapport.

Most of all though, this movie is about the music. Almost all the actors here did their own singing. Paul Giamatti reportedly protested that he couldn't sing at all and wanted to be dubbed. But when the cameras started to roll, he blossomed into a song-stylist par excellence. All sorts of unsuspected talent is revealed, making this movie a better trip than a whole season of American Idol!
March 20, 2007

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