Film
Blues Brothers 2000
A road movie built around a blues-and-soul music showcase, *Blues Brothers 2000* is less a narrative than a series of setpieces strung together to justify why these characters keep playing. It's genial, occasionally rambling, and entirely committed to the idea that a great song can pause any plot. If you love old soul and R&B and don't mind watching a film work hard to get out of the way, this has real charm.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you enjoy loose, shaggy comedy built around big musical set pieces and a deadpan lead, the kind of film where a chase is an excuse for another song.
Skip it if you came for the tight, lightning-quick energy of the 1980 original; this sequel runs long, sprawls across the country, and leans on sheer excess more than sharp jokes.
What it asks of you: Settle in for a little over two hours of episodic road-trip detours, with long musical numbers that let the mood breathe rather than rush forward.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Blues Brothers1980
The original: tighter, meaner, and anchored by John Belushi's manic energy. The car chases are legendary, the musical numbers actually earn their place, and the whole film feels like it's running at a higher temperature than any sequel could match.
But It's chaotic and sometimes cruel in ways that were funny in 1980 but land harder now. The pacing can feel baggy if you're not in the mood for a two-hour ramble.
Ray2004
A proper biopic of Ray Charles that gives you the real story—the addiction, the infidelities, the genius—without treating it as a background note. Jamie Foxx is extraordinary, and the film never stops moving.
But It's heavy and sometimes brutal. This is a film about suffering and survival, not a joyride, and it doesn't let you off easy.
Hairspray2007
A joyous musical that uses integration-era Baltimore and 1960s pop as the frame for a story about being yourself. It's funny, the songs are actual songs, and John Travolta in drag is genuinely delightful.
But If broad comedy and earnest sentiment make you uncomfortable, this will feel saccharine. It's aggressively wholesome.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Blues Brothers 2000
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Pennies from Heaven1981
Both films use music as a form of redemption and escape from grinding circumstance—but where *Blues Brothers 2000* celebrates the music, *Pennies from Heaven* uses it to highlight what's broken in the world beneath it.
A film that uses pre-recorded popular songs from the 1930s as the emotional truth beneath Depression-era bleakness. When characters hear a song in their heads, they dance. The disjunction between the world and the music is devastating.
But It's slow, melancholic, and uncompromisingly adult about sex and disappointment. The dancing-to-pre-recorded-music conceit can feel strange and requires patience to unlock.
More like this (8)
Dreamgirls2006
The rise and fall of a Supremes-like group, told with genuine wit and real hurt. Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson all shine, and the musical numbers have actual stakes.
But At nearly three hours and with heavy themes about ambition and betrayal, it can feel long. Some of the drama edges toward melodrama.
The Commitments1991
Dublin kids try to form a soul band and actually nail it. It's got real grit, real music, and real humor about class and aspiration. The soul covers are genuinely excellent.
But It's grounded in a specific time and place in working-class Ireland, which can feel unglamorous if you're expecting a glossy musical.
Coming to America1988
Eddie Murphy on a rampage through New York, playing multiple characters, riffing endlessly, propped up by an excellent supporting cast. It's loose, funny, and deeply committed to jokes that go nowhere.
But It's of its era in ways that can't be escaped. Some of the comedy is dated, and the plot is skeletal.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?2000
The Coen Brothers adapt Homer using chain gang blues, jug bands, and George Clooney's hair. It's absurdist and literary, but the music—actual period recordings—grounds it in something real.
But It's deliberately obscure and won't explain itself. If you want clarity and forward motion, this will feel like a series of digressions.
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story2007
A parody of music biopics that's actually brilliantly constructed and genuinely funny. It gets the rhythm of those films exactly right while doing something completely absurd.
But It's unrelenting satire that can feel thin if you're not familiar with what it's parodying. Some may just see a silly movie.
La La Land2016
A modern musical that takes jazz seriously and uses music to explore ambition and romance in Los Angeles. It's visually stunning and the musical numbers are integrated into the story, not just pasted on.
But If you think musicals are inherently sentimental or precious, or you're tired of stories about beautiful people pursuing beautiful dreams, this will feel like exactly what you dislike most.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil2008
Both films treat music and musicians with real affection rather than irony or nostalgia. Both understand that the commitment to play, regardless of reward, is its own kind of heroism.
A documentary about a Canadian heavy-metal band that never made it big, still playing dive bars, still believing. It's unexpectedly moving and genuinely funny about failure, loyalty, and the absurdity of artistic commitment.
But It's very much a niche film about metal music that won't appeal to anyone indifferent to the genre. Some find the extended sequences of the band struggling harder to watch than entertaining.
High Fidelity2000
Like *Blues Brothers 2000*, it refuses to separate the story from the soundtrack—music isn't a backdrop but the actual subject. But where the Blues Brothers film is generous and communal, *High Fidelity* is selfish and interior about why music matters.
A scrappy indie about obsession with music and pop culture, told with energy and humor. It stops the film to let characters talk directly to you, and it's genuinely interested in why certain songs matter to certain people.
But It's very specifically of its moment—the year 2000, vinyl enthusiasm, a particular flavor of indie pretension—and if that moment feels distant to you, the film will too. Some find the protagonist unbearable.
People
Cast
Dan AykroydElwood Blues
John GoodmanMighty Mack McTeer
Joe MortonCab Chamberlain
Frank OzWarden
J. Evan BonifantBuster Blues
B.B. KingMalvern Gasperon
Wilson PickettMr. Pickett
Aretha FranklinMrs. Murphy
James BrownCleophus James- Junior WellsJunior Wells
Willie HallWillie Hall- Matt MurphyMatt 'Guitar' Murphy
Directing
- John LandisDirector
Writing
- John LandisScreenplay
- Dan AykroydWriter
Production
- Dan AykroydProducer
- John LandisProducer
- Leslie BelzbergProducer