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Idlewild
Universal Pictures / HBO Films


6.9

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 25 votes
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Rate this movie

MUSIC:

OutKast: Idlewild

TV:

Class Of 3000

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...

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Idlewild is a romp, a ticket to rowdy good times.

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.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

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

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."

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.

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."

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.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

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

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Despite the best efforts of Barber the director, he never quite overcomes the shortcomings of Barber the writer.

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.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

A mess, but an energetic, convivial mess.

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.

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.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Barber's screenplay is mired in cliches that got old in 1935.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Idlewild is diverting enough to suggest all the unexplored avenues in movie musicals.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Neva Chonin

If Idlewild had something beyond OutKast's songwriting, it would make a swell musical.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Boo K. gave it an8:
Blows "Moulin Rouge" & "Chicago" away just in terms of sheer excitement. Beautifully filmed, obscenely talented and just plain *fun*.

Trey B. gave it a9:
Captivating cinematography. Big Boi and Dre really come out of their shells, emerging as confident and dynamic actors. Some scenes just draw you into another world. This movie is less about plot, the story should not be the main focal point, its more about conjuring emotions through imagery and sound. And in this, it is nearly flawless.

Ken G gave it a7:
[**** SPOILERS***] Good movie, with arguably the year's worst ending tacked on. (The death of one of the key characters) They really reached into "movie clichés 101" for that ending. Somebody really needed to tell filmmakers when you’re ending is that cliché and contrived, it comes off as sappy, corny and dopey, not poignant. But overall, they did a solid job with the film.

Bruce S. gave it a2:
The dialogue in the movie could not be understood and the sex was too graphic... I walked out.

Linda S. gave it a0:
This was the most confusing, disgusting movie we've seen in a very long time... we walked out after 20 minutes and that was 15 minutes too late!

Spongeee gave it a9:
Very creative movie. Big Boi and Dre aren’t the strongest actors but hold their own against the bigger names. The camera work, editing, animation, production design, music and sound, and choreography are great. It’s a fast 2.5 hours, the story is tight and paced well, and the entire STYLE of the film is fresh and different. Most real deal OutKast fans should like this one...

Tye N. gave it a9:
This movie surpassed my expectations.. It's fast, beautiful, well thought out, funny, sad, exciting, and all around entertaining. The musical numbers and choreography were great, and the actors (particularly Terrence Howard, Andre Benjamin, and Paula Patton) were great too. Please give it a chance. I'm willing to bet that this film is nominated later this year at the Golden Globes (Best Comedy or Musical Film), and the Academy Awards (Best Original Song, Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup). Very fun and a great ride.

Idlewild Universal Pictures / HBO Films

Idlewild
Universal Pictures / HBO Films