WHAT’S IT ABOUT
Set in the dazzling world of the LA music scene comes the story of Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), a superstar whose talent and ego have reached unbelievable heights. Maggie (Dakota Johnson) is Grace’s overworked personal assistant who’s stuck running errands but still aspires to her childhood dream of becoming a music producer. When Grace’s manager (Ice Cube) presents her with a choice that could alter the course of her career, Maggie and Grace come up with a plan that could change their lives forever.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
The first fifteen minutes of this movie draws you into the very hectic world of Maggie (Dakota Johnson), Jack (Ice Cube), and our main star Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). Grace is a famous singer from back in the day trying to stay relevant. Her manager, Jack, thinks it is time for her to settle into a more secure career move. Gace’s assistant Maggie loves her music. She grew up listening to the old-school artist, and this was like a dream working for the world-famous Grace Davis. This is when we find out just how stuck up, selfish, and diva-like Grace and her manager actually are. Now that the producers/director have made sure you hate Grace and Jack, the focus turns to Maggie. She has big ideas and a damn good coping mechanism. So for the next hour, we get to see Maggie deal with the day to day stress from having to deal with her idol, Grace. We watch as she dries to make her dreams of becoming more than an assistant come true. Last but not least, we see her as she is broken down to nothing. That’s right, for the readers that thought this was a Tracee Ellis Ross film, sorry to burst your bubble. The High Note is almost entirely about Maggie. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but that’s NOT the impression the trailer gives. At its core, this is a “chick flick.” Starring Maggie. All others are secondary characters that help pave the way for Maggie and her dreams. Tracee Ellis Ross is one of the best things about this movie. Sadly her role as Grace needs Jack to humble and humiliate her while she does worse things to Maggie. Without Grace as the catalyst, none of what happened would have been possible. In the end, I feel the music, primarily sung by Grace, is a lot better than the film, but The High Note is still a good movie even though it’s marketed as something completely different.
OUR RATING – AN AVERAGE ROM-COM 6.5
Media
- Genre – Romantic Comedy
- Street date
- Digital – May 29th 2020
- DVD/Blu-Ray – August 11th 2020
- Video – 1080p
- Screen size – 2.39:1
- Sound – English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, English: DTS-HD 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 2.0
- Subtitles – English SDH
Extras
- Deleted/Alternate/Extended Scenes: (1080p, 25:48) Presented here with title cards are alternate cuts and deleted scenes. The scenes cut from the film are good but it’s clear as to why they were cut. The extended scene moments sometimes add some funny bits that made me chuckle.
- The Dream Team: Inside The Creation of The High Note: (1080p, 5:16) A brief overview about how the cast and crew wanted to work on the film and how it all came together. Brief, but informative.
- Making A Legend – The Grace Davis Story: (1080p, 4:08) A “Behind the Music” style mock segment.
- Like I Do Music Video: (1080p, 3:08) A music video version of the concert song performed at the end of the film.