Directed By Nisha Ganatra

Starring – Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Ice Cube

The Plot – Set in the dazzling world of the LA music scene comes the story of Grace Davis (Ross), a superstar whose talent and ego have reached unbelievable heights. Maggie (Johnson) is Grace’s overworked personal assistant who’s stuck running errands, but still aspires to her childhood dream of becoming a music producer. When Grace’s manager (Cube) presents her with a choice that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever.

Rated PG-13 for some strong adult language, and suggestive references

POSITIVES

– Presentation first. Easily the most alluring quality to Ganatra’s exceptional direction is the rich presentation of admirable production qualities that makes the film’s aesthetics a one-two punch preserving its identity. At the top of this list is the editing technique, which impresses with some rehearsal-to-performance transitions that I have never seen in the library of music related movies. With the contrast of a slowly revolving shot composition, the audience and atmosphere transforms before our very eyes, and plays into the lifestyle of Grace, that is quite literally flashing before her eyes. The movie’s color scheme is also quite exceptionally rendered, intoxicating us with an elevation in lighting that is constantly contrasting, as well as an overall cinematography that grants this conventional story a big screen feel. The story is typically set in Los Angeles, but Ganatra shoots it in a way that feels fresh and intimate for the center of pop culture, allowing it to glow with a presence that makes the city feel clean and preserved beautifully.

– Eclectic soundtrack. There’s a slight problem with the original material here, as nothing created ever transpires past one verse. This makes it feel like very little effort was made in making Grace feel like a believable popstar within this world. Thankfully, that issue is outweighed by a collection of timeless classics by everyone from Sam Cooke, to TLC, to Joni Mitchell, and a bunch of other cherished artists. What helps is that most of these tracks aren’t just inserted into the film to sell a mood or atmosphere of a particular scene, but rather refreshed for the story’s two artists to fully render their creativity. In this regard, “The High Note” might be my current favorite for best soundtrack of an unfortunately depleted cinematic year, if only for the way it transforms familiarity in a way that grants new life to these favorites, and allows us the feeling of hearing them all over again for the very first time.

– Concert sequences. As with any good music movie, there has to be an array of musical performances that vibrantly illustrate the atmosphere that the particular artist is emitting, and the ones done here certainly satisfy every one of the rules in that qualification. For one, the computer generation of the audience isn’t especially obvious, with the camera’s proximity often behind the performer to capture the immensity of the star’s magnitude. This not only articulates Grace’s popularity, but also feeds into how this same aspect of a routine lifestyle plays into her jaded demeanor in the twilight of her diminishing career. Beyond this, the sound mixing is top shelf, instilling an echoing quality to its vocals and instrumentals that solidifies the believability of sight and sound seamlessly without skepticism. None of these scenes overstay their welcome, nor is there an overabundance of them anywhere throughout the film, making them feel like welcome assists of storytelling that allow the exposition surrounding them the proper time to breathe and sink in to the audience watching at home.

– Energetic ensemble. There are no shortage of beneficial names that movie in and out of frame of this film. Some of which are one-off cameos like Bill Pullman, who hands in his best work in ten years with a couple of scenes that play into Maggie’s backstory. Then there’s the dominant characters like Ice Cube, who chews up as much scenery as possible with a character who can only be described as P Diddy without the laid back personality. He’s kind of an antagonist of sorts for Johnson’s music-loving Maggie, which transfers Johnson’s usual on-screen awkwardness for a character that feels fully realized for the way Dakota attacks her with gleaming eagerness. The show-stealers, however, go to the stage artists themselves, in Tracie Ellis Ross and Kelvin Harrison Jr. There’s something therapeutic about the former’s role, as she is the real life daughter of Motown icon Diana Ross, but beyond that it’s the way that Ross instills enough complexity to the character that keeps her emotions a crystal ball of spontaneity that she unleashes on anyone she crosses paths with. As for Harrison, this kid continues to articulate his versatility, taking on another different role to his previous work, that not only allows him to channel some deep-seeded dramatic work, but also gives him the opportunity to actually sing for his character. Singing that in four songs in this movie is better than 80% of contemporary R&B artists going today. His vocals are that smooth.

– Musical commentary. Even beneath the turns of the characters and their ensuing subplots, the film has a hearty amount of substance to deposit on the way it sees the business that is every bit thought-provoking as it is poignant with the way it often fails to embrace creativity. Most of it involves a business that is constantly trying to change what about the artist made them great in the first place, complete with a genre-swing and boisterous in-studio sound mixing that isolates the artist for all of the wrong reasons. On a positive side to its commentary is a parallel between two respective careers, one on the way up, and one on the way down, that allows us to see their steps simultaneously, without any of the heartbreak that comes with the “A Star Is Born” formulaic approach. It keeps the story fresh by depicting two different levels of fame, all revolving around this over-her-head producer who sees the best in both of them, and it gives the film plenty of avenues that makes it feel synthetic to the kind of gimmick popstars that we see today before us.

– Elevating direction. A film like “The High Note” would easily be lost if it wasn’t for Ganatra’s meaningful direction, which keeps the story grounded in reality. Most impressively, it’s the way that she imbeds information during key scenes, to offer a reveal that rewards audiences who hang on to the information delivered in every single scene. One moment in particular involves the result of Dakota and Kelvin kissing, which transpires brilliantly between a cut that secludes two differently set scenes. In the former scene, we feel like that’s all there is to what happened, but it continues in the next way in a scene that demands a smile in all of its audience, and does so with the cleverness of a director who knows how to earn a feel good moment while preserving the importance of valuable continuity between these characters.

– Identifiable message. You don’t expect to take much from movies like these, especially considering the artists usually feel so distant from any of the problems that every day people like us deal with every day, but “The High Note” plays to a heartfelt message that any of us can take with us on any of our respective journeys, and not just the art of song writing. There’s a line in the film that tells it all, it states “When there are no more surprises, who am I doing this for?”. Not only a key line in the film, but also one for the many facets of life that prescribes to the values of spontaneity, and what is left when that sentiment runs out. It’s very difficult to do this in film, especially one where the character and her struggles are only relatable to around 5% of the population, but it strikes a nerve where it’s needed, and reminds us to keep the fires of inspiration burning for the long journey ahead.

NEGATIVES

– Sloppy storytelling. While the direction is strong for the duration of the near two hour run time, the screenplay by Flora Greeson struggles at pulling us into two respective narratives that it can’t cohesively balance. The problem feels evident almost immediately, once we’re introduced to Harrison’s character. From there, most of the movie’s time, as well as our protagonist’s attention, is spent on this arc, leaving Grace’s to be held permanently on pause until the screenplay absolutely needs her. In addition to this, the pacing of the climatic third act at times felt rushed, sewing everything up conveniently in a way that completely lacked dramatic tension in every way that the film’s pivotal moments needed. Even as I write this, I value more of the film’s high moments to those of when Johnson and Harrison share the screen, a contradiction to the marketing of the film that barely included the latter.

– Conflict struggles. In addition to the lack of dramatic tension that I previously mentioned, the personal conflicts for the film’s climatic moments also felt every bit as undeserved as they did betraying to what we learned of our protagonist to that point. Like every movie created after 2006, there’s of course a third act break-up that comes at just the right moment in the script’s dry spell, and for reasons that don’t add up creatively. Johnson’s character lies for absolutely no reason what so ever, and worse than that her confidence suddenly becomes an issue when she begins to doubt herself after previously being someone who landed herself into her dream job all because she sold herself. These moments have the kind of heft of placing a tutu on a pile of mashed potatoes, and feel so unnecessary when you consider that the story was appropriately evolving before they arrived. Considering their consequences only last in the movie for around fifteen minutes, it only further proves my opinion.

– Yep, they went there. There was a moment in this film where I made a joke to myself that was nothing more than an immature moment of commentary meant to give myself the giggles. The problem comes when said moment comes to fruition, and soon one of my least favorite cliches in Hollywood becomes a full-fledged plot twist in this movie, that I saw coming when I remembered other movies that did made this desperate move. I can’t even remotely hint at what it is, because it will spoil it immediately, but when you see it, you will know what I am talking about. It’s a lazy, ridiculous twist that is only there to draw everything and everyone together, and overrides every other conflict in its way for a convenient ending that had me groaning in timely convenience.

My Grade: 7/10 or B-