Honeydripper

Alabama, 1950. Tyrone Purvis runs a juke joint called the Honeydripper in a cotton town. The place next door takes the young customers because it has a jukebox; nobody is listening to Tyrone's live band. The debts have piled up, the rent is late, the sheriff is at the door. Tyrone plays one last card: he advertises a famous act for harvest week. The man does not turn up. What he has is a boy new in town who plays electric guitar. Tyrone puts him on stage. John Sayles directs; two hours and four minutes, with Danny Glover as Tyrone and Charles S. Dutton and LisaGay Hamilton in the cast. The young guitarist is played by Gary Clark Jr., a musician himself. The film sits on the threshold where the electric guitar turns into rock and roll.