65
Metascore
30 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinThe ensemble is stupendous--howlingly great--and the music goes deep.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt's an enjoyable ramble, with a feel for what made the early days of rock as wild as any that followed.
- 83Seattle Post-IntelligencerSeattle Post-IntelligencerThe movie's biopic aspect is multiplied by the sheer number of players who made Chess the first family of Chicago blues, R&B and rock 'n' roll...That all of them were later inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame attests to their enormous influence on popular music and culture.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttIn watching this film, it's best not to worry much about the film's fidelity to history but rather simply lean back and enjoy one great jam session on film.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertCadillac Records is an account of the Chess story that depends more on music than history, which is perhaps as it should be. The film is a fascinating record of the evolution of a black musical style, and the tangled motives of the white men who had an instinct for it.
- 75Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneMos Def makes a terrific Berry, all flash and confidence, and Wright offers a memorably soulful take on Waters, whether he's strutting, singing, suffering or all three. Walker's Howlin' Wolf is a deep-throated, pride-filled bear of a man who dominates the screen.
- 60VarietyVarietyMost of the details are right-on in Cadillac Records, though the director's efforts to sell it sometimes steers the film into mawkish or hokey territory.
- 60L.A. WeeklyErnest HardyL.A. WeeklyErnest HardyDirector Darnell Martin (I Like it Like That) races through the script's bullet points with a brisk superficiality that leaves crucial plot points underdeveloped and unresolved, and refuses to engage the dark side of Leonard Chess’ paternalism.
- 42The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsMartin attempts to present the whole oversized Chess story, but instead winds up reducing the lives and art that give it shape.
- 10Village VoiceVillage VoiceWith everything so wrong, how can there be anything right about Cadillac Records?