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23
American Carol, An
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
42
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
45
Blindness
58
Body of Lies
62
Burn After Reading
xx
City of Ember
15
College
82
Dark Knight, The
43
Death Race
15
Disaster Movie
43
Eagle Eye
xx
Express, The
49
Family That Preys, The
57
Flash of Genius
36
Fly Me to the Moon
54
Get Smart
72
Ghost Town
49
Hancock
34
Happening, The
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
71
Horton Hears a Who!
55
House Bunny, The
36
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
61
Incredible Hulk, The
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
79
Iron Man
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
73
Kung Fu Panda
46
Lakeview Terrace
52
Longshots, The
24
Love Guru, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
51
Mamma Mia!
43
Meet Dave
37
Miracle at St. Anna
35
Mirrors
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
34
My Best Friend's Girl
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
39
Nights in Rodanthe
64
Pineapple Express
xx
Quarantine
36
Righteous Kill
53
Rocker, The
xx
RocknRolla
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
36
Space Chimps
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
51
Step Brothers
47
Swing Vote
60
Traitor
71
Tropic Thunder
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
93
WALL-E
64
Wanted
27
Women, The
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
72
Ghost Town
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
62
Burn After Reading
61
Incredible Hulk, The
60
Traitor
58
Body of Lies
57
Flash of Genius
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Rocker, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
49
Family That Preys, The
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
46
Lakeview Terrace
45
Blindness
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
43
Eagle Eye
42
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
39
Nights in Rodanthe
37
Miracle at St. Anna
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
36
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
34
My Best Friend's Girl
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
24
Love Guru, The
23
American Carol, An
15
Disaster Movie
15
College
xx
RocknRolla
xx
Express, The
xx
City of Ember
xx
Quarantine
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
xx
All of Us
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
40
America the Beautiful
66
American Teen
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
63
Appaloosa
xx
Ashes of Time Redux
65
August Evening
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
62
Baghead
81
Ballast
55
Battle in Seattle
59
Beautiful Losers
xx
Beer for My Horses
47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
xx
Billy: The Early Years
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
56
Bottle Shock
75
Boy A
55
Bra Boys
xx
Breakfast with Scot
61
Brick Lane
64
Brideshead Revisited
61
Bustin' Down the Door
xx
Call and Response
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Choke
xx
Choose Connor
xx
Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
41
Cthulhu
64
Duchess, The
85
Edge of Heaven, The
66
Elegy
33
Elite Squad
52
Elsa & Fred
80
Encounters at the End of the World
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
64
Fall, The
28
Fireproof
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
65
Flow: For Love of Water
37
Forever Strong
39
Forgiveness
82
Frozen River
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
57
Good Dick
54
Hamlet 2
xx
Happy-Go-Lucky
25
Hell Ride
44
Henry Poole is Here
31
Hounddog
53
Humboldt County
72
I Served the King of England
71
I.O.U.S. A
40
Igor
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67
Jellyfish
xx
Just Buried
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
52
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
xx
Lower Learning
63
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
62
Mister Foe
86
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
80
Moving Midway
46
My Mexican Shivah
xx
Nights and Weekends
73
Obscene
80
Order of Myths, The
67
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
55
Ping Pong Playa
77
Pool, The
72
Priceless
82
Rachel Getting Married
61
Red
55
Religulous
71
Roman de gare
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51
Savage Grace
58
Save Me
72
Secret, A
45
Shoot on Sight
57
Sixty Six
55
Sukiyaki Western Django
16
Surfer, Dude
82
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
71
To the Limit
57
Towelhead
72
Transsiberian
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
84
Up the Yangtze
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
79
Visitor, The
61
Wackness, The
xx
Whaledreamers
54
What We Do Is Secret
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
67
XXY
55
Year of the Fish
39
Young People F**king
75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
86
Momma's Man
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Edge of Heaven, The
85
Alexandra
84
Up the Yangtze
83
U2 3D
83
Trouble the Water
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Frozen River
81
Ballast
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
80
Moving Midway
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pool, The
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
74
Mongol
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
73
Obscene
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Secret, A
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I Served the King of England
71
To the Limit
71
I.O.U.S. A
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
67
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
67
XXY
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
August Evening
65
Flow: For Love of Water
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
Duchess, The
64
Fall, The
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
63
Appaloosa
63
Man Named Pearl, A
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Baghead
62
Girls Rock!
62
Mister Foe
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Brick Lane
61
Red
59
Beautiful Losers
58
Save Me
57
Towelhead
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
57
Sixty Six
57
Good Dick
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Year of the Fish
55
Religulous
55
Bra Boys
55
Sukiyaki Western Django
55
Battle in Seattle
55
Ping Pong Playa
54
Hamlet 2
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
54
What We Do Is Secret
53
Humboldt County
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Last Stop for Paul
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
47
Choke
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
46
My Mexican Shivah
45
Shoot on Sight
44
Henry Poole is Here
41
Cthulhu
40
America the Beautiful
40
Igor
39
Forgiveness
39
Young People F**king
37
Forever Strong
33
Elite Squad
31
Hounddog
28
Fireproof
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
25
Hell Ride
16
Surfer, Dude
xx
Choose Connor
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
xx
Happy-Go-Lucky
xx
All of Us
xx
Whaledreamers
xx
Nights and Weekends
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Ashes of Time Redux
xx
Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
xx
Breakfast with Scot
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Just Buried
xx
Beer for My Horses
xx
Lower Learning
xx
Call and Response
xx
Billy: The Early Years
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Idlewild
Universal Pictures / HBO Films
MUSIC:
TV:
MPAA RATING: R for violence, sexuality, nudity and language
Starring
André Benjamin,
Antwan A. Patton,
Terrence Howard,
Faizon Love,
Ben Vereen,
Ving Rhames,
Jackie Long,
and
Oscar Dillon
Set against the backdrop of a 1930s southern speakeasy, Idlewild explores the lives of Percival (Benjamin), the club's shy piano player, and Rooster (Patton), the club's showy lead performer and manager. Idlewild synthesizes drama, music, cinema and style to bring the tale of struggling singers to life. (Universal)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
Musical
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Bryan Barber
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Bryan Barber
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: December 5, 2006
Theatrical: August 25, 2006
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
90 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Idlewild is a romp, a ticket to rowdy good times.

90
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
Idlewild has just about everything a popular entertainment can offer. It also has a soul, and that comes free with the price of a ticket.

75
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
The result is a passionate, enthralling film that isn't afraid to take chances - even if it sometimes should be.

75
Chicago Tribune
Sid Smith
Aiding Barber is the terrific work of choreographer Hinton Battle, delivering a ferocious, contemporary update of swing and bridging the gap between quick-take MTV flash and the longer needs of cinematic dancing--a hybrid that works better here than in the frenetic, overrated "Chicago."

70
Washington Post
Teresa Wiltz
For all its shortcomings, Idlewild also has something that few films can pull off: Moments of such pure cinematic fabulousness, breathtaking dance sequences and idiosyncratic 3-D animation flourishes that we are more than willing to forgive it for all its sins.

70
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Director Bryan Barber (known for his music videos) and his cast display so much gusto that it's hard to keep up your resistance--I wound up finding this more enjoyable than the Oscar-bestrewn "Chicago."

70
Variety
John Anderson
Achieves magic--something sorely missing from so many movies these days--and does so via a philosophy of respect, but not reverence, for what's come before it; it never recycles, it just reimagines.

70
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Idlewild has a sober, loving respect for history and the old South, and thereby grants itself a measure of distinction.

63
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
Despite the best efforts of Barber the director, he never quite overcomes the shortcomings of Barber the writer.

63
USA Today
Claudia Puig
The music by Outkast is great, and the rowdy, randy en masse dance sequences are riveting. The story, however, is rather thin and lacks focus.

63
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
A mess, but an energetic, convivial mess.

63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
Idle it is not. Wild it is most assuredly. Set in Prohibition-era Georgia, Idlewild boasts yesterday's style, today's music, and the Harlem Renaissance's romanticism.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
Artistic originality is not so common a commodity that you can afford to get too fussy about the details.

63
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Barber's screenplay is mired in cliches that got old in 1935.

60
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
Idlewild is diverting enough to suggest all the unexplored avenues in movie musicals.

60
Empire
Olly Richards
Anyone unfamiliar with or underwhelmed by the music of OutKast will find little in this thin piece of cinematic storytelling. Fans happy to luxuriate in its artistic indulgence, however, will be swept up in the weird, random, fantastic OutKastness of it all.

50
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
The camerawork is steady, the editing patient, the choreography playful. It's a zippy and inspired piece of moviemaking. But there's one problem. It's playing under the closing credits.

50
Slate
Dana Stevens
Idlewild has moments of sticky sentimentality and stretches of dull exposition, but you've got to give it this: It's unpredictable.

50
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
The soundtrack is a genre-hopping joy, and each musical number is cleverly staged and creatively choreographed. The problem is the noble mess of a movie that takes up so much space in between.

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
It's basically a series of music videos - a few quite good - strung together over two long hours and loosely connected by a weak story line loaded with anachronisms.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Neva Chonin
If Idlewild had something beyond OutKast's songwriting, it would make a swell musical.

50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Idlewild boasts too much personality around the edges--especially in Terrence Howard and Macy Gray's scene-stealing turns--and not enough at its center. It's a vehicle for OutKast's music and personality in which the music and lead roles feel like afterthoughts.

50
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
The film only rarely harnesses the power of the anachronistic, funk-driven, beat-heavy rap music that swells its soundtrack. Even the intricately choreographed crowd dance scenes, filled with frenzied movement, are more often stillborn than stimulating.

50
Los Angeles Times
Ann Powers
Patton and Benjamin can both hold the screen and are great in their musical sequences, but sorry, they aren't actors -- Terrence Howard, as the villain Trumpy, blows them into dust when he's on camera -- and their limited expressiveness detracts from the film's hallucinatory edge. The plot fails them too, as it takes turns we've seen in a dozen melodramas.

50
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
This oddball mix of "The Cotton Club" and "Six Feet Under" is a big, beautiful mess. But it offers the not-uninstructive spectacle of talented people stumbling over large and unwieldy ambitions.

50
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
An entertaining mess. It blends together musical styles and dances, historical periods with howling anachronisms, coy, almost childish gimmicks with R-rated sex and violence.

40
The New York Times
Manohla Dargis
The joint doesn't jump in the musical Idlewild; it just twitches and stumbles. As much a missed opportunity as a terrible tease.

38
Premiere
Aaron Hillis
A thin sprinkling of exuberance and a couple of choice cameos, that's about all this underwritten and overly choreographed spectacle has to tease us with.

30
Wall Street Journal
Joanne Kaufman
Shakespeare has been quoted many, many times over the past 400 or so years, but never to such empty purpose as in the inchoate, self-indulgent musical drama Idlewild, a star vehicle for the wildly popular hip-hop duo OutKast.
30
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
There are moments in Idlewild that resonate with the painful "if only" of missed opportunity, and more than a few that just make you scratch your head. It's like some wildly overlong music video, minus the sexy thump 'n' grind. It's all blow, no pop.

25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
The most ridiculous period film since rappers took on the Old West in "Posse."


The average user rating for this movie is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 25 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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