La voix du succès (The High Note)

While (The High Not has been available since May 29th on VOD in the United States following the closure of all cinemas in the United States due to the covid-19 pandemic, the new film Nisha Ganatra (Late Night (2019) and several episodes of series such as Future man, Mr Robot, Brooklyn-Nine-Nine) will finally be released in theatres in France on July 14th. While we could expect an umpteenth pre-formatted and mawkish Hollywood comedy, the result not only surprises us but also imposes itself as an undeniable success. Indeed, the script written by Flora Greeson benefits from several important themes: the career path of an assistant to a world music star who wants to become a producer, a pertinent analysis of the music industry, the springboard that can be for some stars at the end of their career, or wishing to take root, to take up residence in Las vegas, or the private life of an artist with an oversized ego who had to make an important choice in her past. Everything here contributes to giving The High Note the aura of a good movie feel like one would like to see more often in the cinema, especially in these difficult times.

In discovering the first images of The High Note, it is impossible not to think of the film The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson) is in fact an assistant who must be at the disposal at all times of the star Grace Davis (played by Tracee Ellis Ross, daughter of Diana Ross). Maggie Sherwoode, daughter of a singer who died when she was only six years old and of a radio music show presenter, is passionate about music and secretly dreams of being a producer and working on Grace Davis' next album for which her record company has little faith, as the success of her previous albums continues to resonate perfectly with a wide range of fans who have grown up listening to her. Maggie Sherwoode will also meet a young singer, David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) for whom she will produce her first studio album. If the film works perfectly, it is not only because it benefits from an excellent direction and a lovingly crafted script, but above all because it can rely on a totally invested cast. Dakota Johnson after the disappointing saga Fifty Shades of Grey finally shows that she is an excellent actress and the success of this film owes a lot to her.

In the same way, we take a real pleasure to finally see a movie that finds the perfect angle to unveil the beautiful city of Los Angeles. Jason McCormick's photography knows how to perfectly capture its many winding streets, the real Hollywood in which the mythical Capitol Records Building can be seen several times. In the same way that the excellent Pretty Woman captured the beauty of this city, The High Note really makes us want to go back to this city where, with luck and a lot of work, everything seems possible. Certainly many times the manager Jack Robertson (Ice Cube) seems to want to belittle her by reminding her that she is only an assistant and not a producer sounds true and shows that it is really difficult not only to succeed but also to be heard in a world in which everything seems already frozen.

The many musical numbers in the film are also pure magic moments, whether on stage captured to perfection or in the studio where the director brings a perfect approach to musical creation, intonations, phrasing, the search for the perfect voice. The presence of Tracee Ellis Ross in these musical numbers gives the film an undeniable charm. Far from offering us a film that is too calibrated and based on a too classical structure, The High Note (The High Note) easily imposes itself as the feel-good movie that we owe it to ourselves to discover at the cinema in an excellent venue and which reminds us that all the magic of cinema is still present despite this difficult period, this film will make you laugh, will make you cry but above all will make you want to live your passion to the fullest and devour life...

The High Note
Directed by Nisha Ganatra
Produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Written by Flora Greeson
Starring Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Zoë Chao, Bill Pullman, Eddie Izzard, Ice Cube
Music by Amie Doherty
Cinematography : Jason McCormick
Edited by Wendy Greene Bricmont
Production companies : Working Title Films, Perfect World Pictures
Distributed by Focus Features
Release date : May 29, 2020 (United States), July 4, 2020 (France)
Running time : 113 minutes

Viewed on 29 May 2020

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