Jake & Elwood - The Blues Brothers
Excellent Music, a Great Automobile Chase and a Classic Movie
Sep 15, 2008
Made in 1980, the film is a good old fashioned musical comedy in which the two characters, based on a musical sketch originally aired on ‘Saturday Night Live’.
The Story of the Blues Brothers
The Blues Brothers follows Jake and Elwood as they try to raise $5,000 to pay the back taxes owed to Chicago City Council by the orphanage the two grew up in. The only legal way they can think of which will raise that sort of cash is to reform their Rhythm and Blues band, The Blues Brothers, and play a benefit gig.
Being a comedy, and a very fine comedy at that, things are not quite that simple. The film contains some great music, and also some great scriptwriting. It also contains two of the best auto chases of the last three decades. The first involves a Country and Western band whose gig in a redneck bar the Blues Brothers hijack. The other involves what seems to be the entire Chicago Police Department as Jake and Elwood race to City Hall to pay the taxes before the deadline.
The chase is launched by Elwood who says, ‘It’s 106 miles to Chicago. We got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, its dark and we’re wearing sunglasses.’
‘Hit it!’ Jake replies and they are off, pursued by the police, a mysterious woman out to get revenge on Jake, the Country and Western Band, and a group of US Neo-Nazis. The fun then moves into its third, and very excellent, climactic phase - the chase.
The Music of the Blues Brothers Movie
The film is really made by its music. The Blues Brothers Band is made up of excellent musicians and the first third of the film is about them reforming the band.
Jake and Elwood are based on the legendary Stax Records duo, Sam and Dave and looking closely at film of this great pair, it becomes clear that all the stage moves made by Akroyd and Belushi are based on Sam and Dave’s stage show. This makes the choice of Steve Cropper and Donald ‘Duck’ Dunn, former members of the Stax house band (the MGs), inspired. The Blues Brothers power their way through a series of Stax staples as well as many other classic R ’n’ B songs.
On their way through the film, the Blues Brothers are joined by a number of legendary soul and blues artists who contribute numbers along the way. These include Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, John Lee Hooker, James Brown, and, from the classic age of jazz, Cab Calloway.
Other stars to feature in cameo and minor roles are Twiggy, Carrie Fisher, John Candy, Frank Oz, Steven Spielberg and Chaka Khan.
The Recommendation
This film is worth watching and re-watching. It is a genuine ‘good-time’ film which will leave everyone smiling and tapping their feet. This writer defies anyone not to enjoy what is one of the best movies around: a film that will appeal to comedy fans, music fans and fans of car chases alike.
Don’t delay. Be like the Blues Brothers, and ‘Hit it!’
