Posts Tagged ‘Brothers’
Blues Brothers Review
February 21st, 2012 at 5:58 pm by andrewnisargandAh yes, the SNL movie. For the one person out of my five usual viewers who is reading this and has no idea what I’m talking about, let me explain. Saturday Night Live has been…no I’m not explain saturday night live to you. Waste of my time. Now anyways, this show has a habit of creating characters that eventually create movies. Most of these movies range from meh to oh please god make it stop, although there have been a few standouts among the bunch (namely Wayne’s World and it’s sequel). In my opinion rarely these characters are even deserving of a film (despite the fact that I like Wayne’s World, was it really deserving of a film? Probably not). It’s usually just cashing in on a familiar character to gain more box-office sales…where am I going with this you ask? Well, the original SNL character movie, made in 1980, is easily the greatest. I’m talking, of course, about the Blues Brothers.
Now let me explain the concept a bit. Basically Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi made a soul and blues band with them at the head, in the characters of the Blues Brothers (“Joliet” Jake and Elwood Blues). They performed as SNL’s musical guests once and the band did other performances around the city. Eventually the band took on a life of it’s own, they made an album and then this movie came. I really don’t know what more to give in history. Now that the background’s out of the way, let’s get on with the film.
The plot starts out with Jake getting out of prison and meeting up with his brother. His brother then drags him to their old orphanage after picking him up as Jake had promised the head nun, the Penguin (get it? huh? get it?) that he would visit her after getting out. Turns out the orphanage is getting closed down, as they don’t have the money to pay the property tax. So yeah, that’s the plot. Jake and Elwood gathering the band back together to get the money to pay the orphanage, simple, concise and open to so many forms of wacky hijinks. Trust me, it gets nuts.
Once again, I have to talk about something that I barely ever talk about in these reviews, which is the music. The music is an integral part of this movie, acting as a driving force in the plot as well as having more than a few moments where the movie goes on Jazz musical which I do NOT count as a bad thing. But the music is absolutely amazing, whether it’s weaved into the storyline or pulls the whole out of nowhere, the music is just utterly amazingly well done and sounds absolutely perfect. I really don’t know what to say but if you like Blues, Jazz, any of that good ol’ nonsense you need to see this movie, right freaking now.
The greatest part about this movie is really just how absolutely hilarious it is. The set up isn’t really that funny, I mean saving an orphanage sounds like your usual dramatic film but they manage to make it literally the funniest thing ever (and I realize I’m a huge fan of hyperbole but overall this is tied with Dogma as my favorite comedy ever. For those who know me, that’s saying A LOT). Honestly, ever minute is the funniest thing you’ll ever see. Let me sum it up: Bridge jumping, mall car chase scene, Carrie Fisher trying to kill them, incompetent cops, last minute escapes and easily the greatest car chase in the history of Cinema (once again, realize I’m in another hyperbole moment but trust me it’s ridiculous).
Let me put this in terms you can easily understand: Go watch this movie. If you are in any way a fan of comedies, you owe it to yourself to go out and see this film. So honestly, in my opinion it is just that simple: It’s hilarious, jazzy, and helps brighten up your day and the world. Just go see it now. Easy 5 out of 5.

