The 1950′s music scene is foreign territory to me. Aside form some of the hits to come out of the era, I’m not familiar with either the big players or the companies that discovered and promoted the artists to superstardom but I do love myself a good period drama and when it includes music as good as this, it’s certainly worth, at least, a mention.

Cadillac Records, directed by mostly TV lady Darnell Martin, stars Adrien Brody as Leonard Chess, the founder of Chess Records, a label which specialized in blues, R&B, gospel music, early rock and roll and occasional jazz releases. Along with Brody, the film stars quite the cast of talents including Jeffrey Wright as Muddy Waters, Gabrielle Union as Geneva Wade, Mos Def as Chuck Berry and Beyoncé Knowles as Etta James and though the film is said to chronicle the rise of Chess Records and its recording artists, the trailer suggests that Knowles and the story of Etta James features prominently.

I’m not big on biopics, particularly ones that seem as straightforward in approach as this one, but Brody is a big attraction and Knowles, though not a great actress, has shown that she can definitely hold the audience’s attention and if nothing else, the girl has lungs.

This will likely get lost in the shuffle of December prestige releases but one never knows, the timing certainly suggest that perhaps they’r shooting for some awards love. I doubt they’ll get any but it doesn’t make the film any more or less appealing.

Cadillac Records opens on December 5th.

Trailer is tucked under the seat!