DRUMLINE
# stars based on 4 stars: 3 Reviewed by: Harvey Karten 20th Century Fox Directed by: Charles Stone Written by: Tina Gordon Chism, Shawn Schepps Cast: Nick Cannon, Zoe Saldana, Orlando Jones, Leonard Roberts, GQ, Jason Weaver, Earl Poitier, Candace Carey Screened at: Loews 34th St., NYC, 12/20/02
Some say that college standards have gone down since I attended Tufts in the late 1950's. Not only does grade inflation mean that half of a given class gets A's; the level of complexity of each course has been dumbed down to make sure students do not drop out or flunk out, thus keeping the tuition money rolling in. I'm not qualified to judge the truth or falsehood of these claims but I know one thing if you go by what's happening at a certain predominantly black university in Georgia, Atlanta A&T. According to Charles Stone's movie "Drumline," the young men and women at the school are so disciplined and this for just an extra-curricular activity that they get up at 4.30 a.m. quite willingly and practice their heads off in their favorite activity. The activity is the marching band. Charles Stone's concept, from a screenplay by Tina Gordon Chism and Shawn Schepps, is that halftime is so exhilarating to the thousands of fans in the stands that the rhythm of the music that entertains the folks who come to watch the game is more important to them than the flights of the pigskin. And not just the music, but the choreography. We can see why as we watch these talented, dedicated people directed by competitive band leaders go through the paces, mixing it up in actual competition with the bands and cheerleaders from the opposing school.
In "Drumline," we in the movie audience are privy not only to the drums, tubas, saxophones and trumpets but the shapely bodies and tantalizing terpsichorean action of the women, who like the men seem to spend most of their time on campus fashioning steps and beats as original as the very Charles Stone film that glorifies them. Of course there's the personal story, the usual themes of rivalry between two men and romance involving a girl who at first holds back the advances of the best drummer in the college but soon succumbs to his charms.
The drummer, Devon (Nick Cannon) has a few faults: he can't read music and had to lie on his application to ensure his acceptance on a full scholarship. He is at first not a team player but determined to do his own thing, having contempt for the more classical tradition of the leader, Dr. Aaron Lee (Orlando Jones) and the section leader of the group, Sean (Leonard Roberts). Predictably enough, he gets the girl, Laila (Zoe Saldana), he shapes up his own act, and he is even rewarded by having his sentence to the bench reduced when he's most needed in a competition with another school that consistently wins the championship.
In this case, then, story takes a second place to the music and dance, and they are spectacular. Gone, it seems, are the cheerleaders of old with their "Gimme a V; gimme an I, gimme a C," and so on until "What have we got? Victory? What's that? Victory?" Instead the gals don't involve the audience directly, which is fine since the latter are on their feet cheering wildly at the fancy steps and swinging tubas, all 50,000 extra hired by the production team in what looks like a pretty expensive pic.
Here is a movie that could please everyone from the diehard fan of adolescent Animal House vulgarity to the proponents of good, clean American fun like film critic Michael Medved and educator William Bennett. There is no gang warfare, no selling of drugs, not a cuss word, and nothing but the most innocent of suggestive scenes. Believe it or not, the film works anyway, sweet love, clean living, high spirits in the tradition of "Antwone Fisher," with the Derek-Luke type role taken this time by the charming Nick Cannon as the egocentric Devon who learns you can get more out of college by being a team player than by playing a solo.
Rated PG-13. 118 minutes. Copyright 2003 by Harvey Karten at Harveycritic@cs.com
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