The High Note

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Just for a heads up on this one, I'm not gonna go into a whole hell of a lot of detail about things. I went with it due to the combination of a solid cast, having something a little lighter than usual, and if I'm honest, a lack of options. I do try to keep these as a "straight-to-VOD" thing as opposed to an "It existed before, but now it's on VOD" thing. Otherwise, I pretty much understood the kind of movie I was getting into and I find these fictional musical success stories very hit or miss.

The story centers on Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson), personal assistant to fictional soul sensation, Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). After doing some of her own edits to Grace's work, she plays a clip much to the dismay of Grace's actual manager, Jack Robinson (Ice Cube). Jack has words with Maggie, and among them, suggestions that if she wanted to be a producer to go find her own "damn clients". So she ends up trying just that, behind Grace's back, when she finds a local who enjoys performing at grocery stores, David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.)

David enjoys doing his local thing due to its overall simplicity and fun, but Maggie ends up being so confident in his voice that she thinks he can go places. Together, they work on trying to launch David's singing career. In the meantime, Grace deals with the struggles of what it means to be a black woman over 40 trying to keep it fresh in the music industry - while she knows what she wants, Jack likes to tell her how it is, and what she needs to do. As a result, she takes quite a bit out on poor Maggie, prompting her to pursue what she's doing behind Grace's back.

It's a neat story, and it's interesting enough to keep my attention. The various celebrity appearances padding this film are always an interesting, unexpected pop-up. Among a few are Bull Pullman, Eddie Izzard and Jonathan Freeman (perhaps best known as the voice of Jafar in 'Aladdin'). For the most part, though, it's just another up-and-comer success story, somewhat reminiscent of 'Coyote Ugly'. Although, it is a nice change to see the story about who would otherwise be a background character as opposed to a focus on the big singer.

All in all, the performances are good here, and I confess that I kinda like Dakota Johnson who is otherwise known for a series of movies I just can't bother watching. It's kinda like learning that Robert Pattinson a great actor and not just a sparkly vampire. It's always pleasing to know about someone's range. Speaking of, one of the best parts of this movie is Ice Cube. It's kinda like the Captain from '21 Jump Street' discovered he wasn't in a comedy.

I'm gonna go ahead and recommend waiting for this one to become a little more accessible. It's a decent story, and it has a unique spin, but I'd consider it more of a date movie for a nice night in than something to enjoy on your own. That is, unless this ind of thing is up your alley, in which case, go nuts! For me, it's just one of those interesting and passable stories. Nothing really blew me away, but by no means was it bad.

​3/5

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