I don't think anyone has ever used the word "conventional" to describe OutKast, the wildly inventive hip-hop combo of André "3000" Benjamin and Antwan "Big Boi" Patton. It comes as a surprise, then, to see that "Idlewild", their take on a depression-era fable about two childhood friends who grow up in the titular Georgia town, is as woefully standard as it is joyfully anachronistic. As the film playfully introduces the two characters as young boys, it appears as though "Idlewild" might be up to something interesting. But what could have been a hip-hop
"Moulin Rouge" instead becomes a musical "Harlem Nights". "Idlewild" features a talented cast wasted on a poor script while playing gangster in the early 1900s.
The film tells the parallel stories of Percival (Mr. Benjamin) and Rooster (Mr. Patton). When Percival isn't working at his father's funeral home, he plays piano at the local speakeasy called The Church (get it?) where Rooster's singing is the main attraction. Mr. Benjamin has been promising on screen before in "Be Cool" and
"Four Brothers", but here he plays Percival with a reticence that borders on wooden. Mr. Patton, meanwhile, relies on the typical over-acting tics of an inexperienced actor.
The boys are surrounded by talented actors though. Cicely Tyson, Ben Vereen and Ving Rhames all give the film their support, if not their complete attention. But only the always-wonderful Terrence Howard shows up to demonstrate how to elevate a poor script. He doesn't have much screen time, but he makes the most of what he has.
But enough about the acting, we don't come to see an OutKast movie for the brilliant performances - we're here for the music. It's appropriate then that Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Patton have alternate musical identities (as André 3000 and Big Boi, respectively) because they are completely different people when they perform. The film takes on a whole different energy when the music starts. Oddly, a majority of the film's songs come from the band's previous epic double-disc "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" rather than their current effort which shares the name of the film. Both albums contain plenty of good material, so I'm not complaining. Sadly, the musical numbers in "Idlewild" are the very definition of "few and far between".
The director Bryan Barber cut his teeth on OutKast's music videos and he clearly has a talent in that milieu - my favorite technique involves isolating and enlarging a single character against a freeze frame. Unfortunately, when he directs scenes of dialogue - from his own script no less - the film grinds nearly to a halt. In one scene in particular, I'm pretty certain he gave the actress Paula Patton - playing ingénue Angel Davenport with as much sexiness as she can muster - the direction to "pace back and forth in this hallway".
It's been widely rumored that there is some animosity between Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Patton, which may explain why they share the screen for a few scant minutes, and why the young actors playing Rooster and Percival as children are more convincing as friends. Whatever their relationship, OutKast make great music. On the surface, it would appear that they could have made "Idlewild" a great film. But looks can be deceiving, and "Idlewild", for all its style and flash, is far too idle and not enough wild.
