Honeydripper

SYNOPSIS

This fantastical tale of the early days of rock 'n' roll is really one for fans of its leftfield writer/director John Sayles. The setting is the rural Deep South of 1950, and Danny Glover stars as Tyrone Purvis, owner of the Honeydripper Lounge, a drinks and dance joint that has seen better days. In a bid to boost business, Tyrone hires New Orleans rhythm and blues man Guitar Sam to play. But Sam is a no-show, and the beleaguered owner is forced to fall back on untried new kid Sonny (Gary Clark Jr) and his oddball electric guitar - having rejected his services earlier. The rest, as they say, is history, or, at least, Sayles' small-town take on how a new breed of musicians turned the world on its head. Glover has top billing in a largely all-black cast, but it's Clark Jr, making his film debut, who steals a slow but smouldering show.