This is a movie that I’ve been aware of for years. For a while, it was kind of on the periphery of my pop culture knowledge, then my interest was piqued when I realized Orlando Jones was in it (Justice for Irving!) At any rate, I’ve finally seen the film now, and although it shows its age, I liked it quite a bit.
After graduation, cocky Harlem percussion prodigy Devon heads south on a music scholarship. At Atlanta A&T, a (fictional) HBCU, his brash attitude puts him at odds with Dr. Lee, the fair but demanding marching band director, and Sean, the percussion section leader. Devon’s wild drumming and improvisational style earns him plenty of attention, but Dr. Lee has larger lessons to teach him about being part of a group.
Maybe it’s because I rewatched the first two seasons of Ted Lasso recently and am jonesing for the third, but it struck me while watching that Devon is like an 18-year-old percussionist Jamie Tartt. He most certainly has the talent to back up his bravado, and his impressive skills put butts in seats, but he’s so enamored with his own genius that he’s not a good team player. Unfortunately for Devon (and Dr. Lee,) it takes him most of the movie to realize why this is a problem—despite Dr. Lee’s best efforts, Devon’s bad behavior keeps getting rewarded/enabled, and any attempts on Dr. Lee’s part to teach him some perspective are almost immediately undermined.
The marching band scenes are banging. I love the style, musicianship, and swagger, and I love that centering the story around an HBCU marching band gives the film a valid reason to do a brutal training montage in a film about band kids. Any scene where these musicians are playing together is magic, with the climactic band competition serving as a highlight of the film. Yes, I may have had a couple of Glee-competition-episode flashbacks, but the band serves hard throughout.
It's not a perfect film. The story is rather formulaic, with plenty of telegraphed beats and few genuine surprises. The central romance between Devon and studious dancer Laila is underbaked; we never really get Laila’s perspective in the film, and she’s a pretty thinly drawn character who feels like she exists purely to be Devon’s girlfriend. However, between the music performances and the fun scenes of band camaraderie, I still had a good time overall.
As Devon, Nick Cannon offers up a nice balance between too-cool-for-school attitude and laser focus when he’s in the zone. Orlando Jones does a fine job as Dr. Lee, a frustrated mentor who’s trying to teach a talented kid something real. Leonard Roberts, who I remember best as D.L. from Heroes, is effective as Sean, the Salieri to Devon’s Amadeus. Zoe Saldana is wasted as Laila, and the film also features a brief appearance from Omar J. Dorsey, who plays Hollywood on Queen Sugar.
Warnings
Language, sexual references, and brief violence.
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