Honeydripper (2007)

Synopsis: Iconoclastic filmmaker John Sayles, in his feature film, continues his extraordinary examination of the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures in the new film... Iconoclastic filmmaker John Sayles, in his feature film, continues his extraordinary examination of the complexities and shifting identities of American sub-cultures in the new film Honeydripper.With his usual understated intelligence, Sayles uses the rhythms of the citizens of Harmony, Alabama to immerse the audience into the world of the Jim Crow south. It’s a fable about the birth of rock n’ roll—a quintessentially American subject, but with a fidelity to time and temperament that is unusual in an American director.

It’s 1950 and it’s a make or break weekend for Tyrone Purvis (Danny Glover), the proprietor of the Honeydripper Lounge. Deep in debt, Tyrone is desperate to bring back the crowds that used to come to his place. He decides to lay off his long-time blues singer Bertha Mae, and announces that he’s hired a famous guitar player, Guitar Sam, for a one night only gig in order to save the club.

Into town drifts Sonny Blake, a young man with nothing to his name but big dreams and the guitar case in his hand. Rejected by Tyrone when he applies to play at the Honeydripper, he is intercepted by the corrupt local Sheriff, arrested for vagrancy and rented out as an unpaid cotton picker to the highest bidder. But when Tyrone's ace-in-the-hole fails to materialize at the train station, his desperation leads him back to Sonny and the strange, wire-dangling object in his guitar case. The Honeydripper lounge is all set to play its part in rock n' roll history.

Starring: Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Charles S. Dutton, Mary Steenburgen

Starring: Danny Glover, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Charles S. Dutton, Mary Steenburgen, Gary Clark, Vondie Curtis Hall, Stacy Keach, Kel Mitchell, Keb' Mo', Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Sean Patrick Thomas

Director: John Sayles

Director: John Sayles
Screenwriter: John Sayles
Producer: Maggie Renzi
Composer: Mason Daring
Studio: Emerging Pictures

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