His first reply is a wink at the audience, which would expect Hollywood to trivialize race relations like that. The dialogue where they ask him why he went to the all-black college. I also liked the way they handled the white character in the band. No guns, drugs, none of that stuff that you'd expect from a character who walks and talks like Nick Cannon's character does. One of the best things is that it immerses itself in Afro-American culture w/out any cliches at all - just life as it is down south at an all-black university. Far as what isn't cliche about it, there's a lot to like. I don't watch Nickelodeon so I haven't seen one of those types of movies since I was. And the movie is only cliche as far as its kid w/ bad attitude needs to put his pride away plot goes. I love when the bass drum cadence comes in, the basses march in a circle, the quads toss each other their sticks between bars, and the snares have an orgy of backsticking and other stick tricks on a level you rarely see performed in real life. That being said, the last drum battle is one of my favorite things to watch. Nobody wants to watch flam taps for 90 minutes. What do you guys want, a documentary on marching band? If I was to make a Hollywood movie about the drumline I would have done the same exact things with the drum sequences - put in a gang of stick tricks and showmanship that would translate well to the screen. I swear, half of these reviews I'm reading are annoying - people bashing it because it's an all black movie, people bashing it because the band has dancers instead of a color guard, people calling the drumming rudimentary because they played in a drumline that did better blah blah blah.
Well damn, I guess I'll be the first drummer to say I liked the movie a lot. And I'd better be able to see myself in the surface.ĭevon: I left the polisher on the bottom shelf.įormer drumline member here. Lee: Sean, I want you to polish the drums tonight. President Wagner: Some alumni wanna speak with you.
President Wagner: Now that is a new beginning. Because it is my a** that is on the line. Lee: I don't know what the beef is, but you better grill it up and eat it. Lee: Do I look like I need you to explain anything right now?ĭr. Storyline: Set against the high-energy, high-stakes world of show-style marching bands, Drumline is a fish-out-of-water comedy about a talented street. If I wasn't able to signal a drum major to back you up, you'd still be out there beating your damn drum! do we rehearse? You're out there showboating for five minutes. Lee: What was that? Why do we rehearse? Why.