The Blues Brothers

I've never been a huge fan of movies that have been based off of SNL sketches and turned into full feature length movies. I've just never understood how you can take a sketch that can go anywhere from a minute to 8 minutes, centering on characters that are made for a short sketch and expect to make a full length movie out of it.

However, I've been told such great things about this movie that of course I needed to put this on my list when it showed up on Netflix, and I thought it was about time to watch it tonight.

The Blues Brothers is the story of two brothers, Elwood and Jake (played by Dan Aykroyd and the late John Belushi).

At the beginning of the movie, Jake is being released from prison and the two Blues Brothers return to their childhood home, an orphanage run by the Catholic church. From the very start, the two of them are put on a mission as the orphanage is in debt and at risk of closing if they don't get 5,000 dollars.

At first Jake and Elwood are unmoved by the pleas of the nuns for them to help get the money, but after a spiritual musical number, they are called on by God to raise the money to save the orphanage. In order to do this, they decide they must reform the R&B band the movie is inspired by.

The rest of the movie is just their journey, getting the band together, getting gigs to perform at, and raising the money to save the orphanage. All the while, they rack up a list of enemies that run from the police, to Nazis, to Carrie Fisher (Yeah... Carrie Fisher is just in this movie. She doesn't even have a name but she just randomly tries to kill the Blues Brothers. The reason is given but its more fun to think that they just pissed off Carrie Fisher and she's out to kill them)

The main draw of this movie is the humor. And while I didn't think it was going to be that funny when I first started the movie, it actually really grows on you and by the end I was laughing pretty hard. That's something that doesn't often happen when I watch a movie by myself.

The main attraction of course is the Blue Brothers themselves Jake and Elwood. Here's the thing though, I'm not from that generation of SNL. I didn't grow up with movies starring John Belushi or Dan Aykroyd. I've seen Ghostbusters, but I wasn't jumping out of my seat for that one. This was a totally new experience for me.

For the most part its a fun one. Yeah, I do think Dan Aykroyd is playing the same character he always plays in every single movie he's in. But its strange how much of a character you can get out of two guys who wear black suits, black sunglasses, and black fedoras everywhere, anytime of the day. By the end of the movie, once you're totally aware of the type of humor this movie is going for, these two are really funny.

What I also didn't know what how well John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd can sing. They're definitely not the best singers in the world, but they're entertaining as hell and they can hold a pitch. That I was also very surprised about.

Now again, being that this movie came out in the 80s and that is definitely not my generation, I didn't pick up on this right away. But this movie is chalk full of great R&B performers. Its got Aretha Franklin, its got James Brown, its got Cab Calloway, its got Ray Charles. It really is a star studded cast but unfortunately, not a lot of people these days, at least in my generation are going to recognize these people. Which is a shame, because they're incredibly talented and pretty famous musicians.

I also didn't know that this movie was a movie musical, and a very well done one at that. Like most movie musicals, the song and dance numbers really kind of jump out of no where and suddenly they're singing, but that's what happens in actual musicals so I've never been one to be thrown off by that. Some people might be, but in the context of a movie about a band getting back together, a lot of the musical numbers are performances and not so much random musical numbers which I think some people might enjoy more.

I guess the only complaints I have with this movie are the same complaints I have with a lot of movies based off of the characters of a comedy sketch. You kind of limit yourself with these one dimensional characters. Jake and Elwood are stoic don't really show emotion. That's what makes it funnier when they start performing on stage with so much energy because its so unexpected. The thing that happened with this movie that made it different than other movies adapted from SNL sketches was the comedy that came in this movie. This movie is not based in any reality I know.

There's a scene where they're sleeping and the police are coming to arrest them. But while that's happening, Carrie Fisher decides to blow up the building. But the funny part is not only does nobody get hurt and they walk away unscathed, the Blues Brothers act as if nothing happened.

I was going to say that a complaint I have with this movie is the seemingly randomness of the humor. The ending really kind of feels out of place until you watch the movie as a whole and watch the build up of everything and suddenly the randomness and stoicness of the main characters works really well.

Is it a humor that everyone is going to get? Definitely not. But if its your kind of humor, I think you're going to like it a lot. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, watch the movie and check it out for yourself. If you don't get the humor, at least you can sit around for the musical numbers and learn a little bit about R&B, and other forms of music in this.

Again, its a pretty well done musical so even if the humor isn't for you, there is something I think every one can enjoy in The Blues Brothers.

Overall, its a fun movie. I don't think its a masterpiece, but I definitely see the classic feeling to it and understand why it has a cult following.

But what do you think of The Blues Brothers? Comment and Discuss below! You can also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 and get updates on movie news and reviews. You can also shoot me your thoughts and ideas for future reviews. I'll do any requests.

I'll leave you with this. This is the song I know the Blues Brothers for the most. I was a little bummed that it didn't end up in this movie but I still enjoy the hell out of it. Here is Soul Man. Enjoy!