{"id":20555,"date":"2020-05-28T12:45:46","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T19:45:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20555"},"modified":"2020-05-28T12:45:46","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T19:45:46","slug":"the-high-note-carries-a-pleasing-tune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20555","title":{"rendered":"THE HIGH NOTE Carries a Pleasing Tune"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This title from Focus Features will be available May 29<sup>th<\/sup> as a streaming rental on most platforms.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10620\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There seems to be a trend recently of producing films based\naround the music industry, with titles like the hit remake of <em>A Star is Born<\/em>\nas well as <em>How to Build a Girl<\/em> (a feature I didn\u2019t care for that began\nstreaming about a month ago). <em>The High Note<\/em> follows is another effort\nfrom a similar mold. It\u2019s a romance film set in the world of LA songwriters,\nperformers and producers. Admittedly, there isn\u2019t a whole lot about the story\nthat will defy expectations or surprise viewers. Still, it features beautiful\nLA photography and a charming cast of music-obsessed characters whom viewers\nwill believe truly inhabit this environment.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/High-Note-celebrity-walk-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20556\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maggie (Dakota Johnson) is the personal assistant of famous and\nvery private singer Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). Her duties include\nfollowing the artist around and catering to her every whim. Of course, the\ngopher has deeper ambitions of being a music producer. Whenever she can, Maggie\ntries to offer new ideas to her employer, much to the chagrin of manager Jack\nRobertson (Ice Cube). While grocery shopping, the protagonist meets singer David\nCliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and is immediately struck by his natural talent.\nShe offers her services to him as a producer and the two set out to record his\nmaterial. Of course, as she and Cliff spend more time on the project, a\nrelationship develops and Maggie finds it difficult to keep her stories\nstraight and these two parts of her life separate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/High-Note-studio-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20558\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As mentioned, if you\u2019ve seen one romantic comedy, then\nyou\u2019ll pretty much know what to expect from this effort. Maggie is an eager\ngo-getter who feels taken for granted and strives to prove herself and make her\nmark in the industry, learning in the process that trust means a great deal to\ntalent and understanding that some of her deceitfulness may have consequences.\nThe screenplay hits all of the expected story beats. This means that the tale\ndoes lag a bit in the middle and there isn\u2019t much question about what direction\nthe story will ultimately take its heroine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, a movie like this really depends on the characters and\ntheir interactions. Unlike some titles that just use the music industry as a\nbackdrop and soon forgets about their profession, these people truly love\nmusic. There are numerous conversations and debates between Maggie and rising\nartist David about their favorite artists, not to mention discussions about\nsongwriting, how to record and even mixing a track. The Grace Davis part carries\nan appropriate mix of gravitas, self-importance and insecurity about her stardom.\nIce-Cube shines as the entertainingly gruff manager, a lifelong friend of the diva\nDavis who is solely concerned with maximizing their profits and not taking any\nchances with her career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/High-Note-ice-cube-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20557\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And even though Maggie is sharp and persuasive when it comes\nto laying down a killer track, the script does offer her an arc and the\nopportunity to learn that maintaining personal relationships are just as\nimportant as technical abilities. Another plus is the beautifully filmed Los\nAngeles locations. There are plenty of impressive sunset shots and glowing\nnighttime images of the city. A sudden trip to Catalina Island also offers\nscenic vistas and an amusing cameo from Maggie\u2019s father (Bill Pullman), a radio\nDJ who is equally obsessive about his music collection.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The movie does try to include a little spin towards the end in\nan attempt to shake things up. Truthfully, it may not come as a shock given\nsome of the evasive behavior on display from a few of the cast members earlier\nin the film. Yet, even if it the finale doesn\u2019t provide a sharp sting, <em>The High\nNote<\/em> is still a very nicely shot and likable drama with passionate\ncharacters who love music and are believable. It carries a pleasing tune. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This title from Focus Features will be available May 29th as a streaming rental on most platforms. There seems to be a trend recently of producing films based around the music industry, with titles like the hit remake of A Star is Born as well as How to Build a Girl (a feature I didn\u2019t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,2744,5065,9630,11574,11983,14427,17310,17321,20965,20966,20967,20968,23172],"class_list":["post-20555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-bill-pullman","tag-dakota-johnson","tag-ice-cube","tag-kelvin-harrison-jr","tag-la","tag-music-industry","tag-romance","tag-romantic-comedy","tag-the-high-note","tag-the-high-note-film-review","tag-the-high-note-movie-review","tag-the-high-note-review","tag-tracee-ellis-ross"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}