Duets (2000)

To me, this movie is perfection.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

For comedy/dramas or "dramedies" as one might call this form of film, the blend of humor and human characters is essential to creating believable story lines. The way of going about this has been done multiple ways. A frequently picked method of execution is "the separate story threads conjoining at the finale" direction. Although not anything new, it is a common way of telling individual stories that share a common theme and then bring them together at the end for one grand congregation. The most recent movie that came to mind when thinking of this type of storytelling goes to John Herzfeld's Reach Me (2014). Although entirely stepped on by official critics, it wasn't entirely a waste of a film. It was quick on the draw for certain parts of its script but it also had a positive overall message about improving oneself as a person using unique characters. In some respects, the way this movie was presented felt somewhat in the same vein. Different groups of people from various areas of the U.S. enter a karaoke contest in the hopes of being awarded $5,000 as the winner. Along their travels, they learn things about themselves and each other. Sounds simplistic enough right? It is in fact, but this is not the problem. The issue lies underneath all that once looked at under a closer lens. The screenplay, written by John Byrum (The Razor's Edge (1984) and Mahogany (1975)) suffers from three factors. One is that the movie cannot find a clear tone in its entirety and its three independent story lines. One story is about a selfish karaoke hustler named Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis) who discovers after his distant wife passed away left him his daughter Liv (Gwyneth Paltrow). Then there's Todd Woods (Paul Giamatti), a rundown salesman who gets tired of the same old same old and leaves his life behind while running into just released convict Reggie Kane (Andre Braugher). Lastly is Billy (Scott Speedman), a guy who just got cheated on and discovers new girl Suzi Loomis (Maria Bello) who has a knack for getting what she wants by sacrificing her dignity.It's difficult to say which story feels the most sympathetic. The father/daughter struggle could've been heartwarming all the way through but instead is kicked around as a nuisance and is only quickly reconciled later on. The adventure salesman/convict thread only seems to get more uncontrollably rash and negatively misunderstood the longer the characters are on screen. As for the lonely guy/new girl parable, the play out often feels like a dark raunchy comedy that was meant for another film entirely. With all the inconsistent tones, the film as a whole doesn't work that well. What exactly are you trying to be movie? Unfortunately with the confusing tone brings up the second issue with the screenplay and that's the story lines not complimenting each other in some way. How does one find a comparison between these three- mismatched story threads? Finally, the last issue (which is probably the biggest and most noticeable) is that the whole concept of karaoke isn't of main focus for a lot of the running time. It's actually more of a backdrop and that's rather sad due to the pros that are about to be listed next.As much as the problems mentioned prior bring down the film a lot, there are positives to bring up and these points at least show it had the potential to be better. For one, the acting is solid. Every main character has a certain personality and the actor portraying that character fits it nicely. Even Huey Lewis, for the small amount of times he's acted plays it cool (although arrogant). Paul Giamatti gets more and more psychotic as time progresses and his dialog gets more and more garbled. Maria Bello with a Southern accent is different and her attitude is quite sharp. This is just a few from the tip of the iceberg. Now if only the characters were actually written better. Also just for fun, there are a couple of cameos viewers may not be aware of. For one, Michael Bublé has an obvious appearance but is still fun to see him doing what he does best (singing that is). There's even a quick shot of Terminator (1984) director James Cameron having some fun. Weird but intriguing.The cinematography was adequate too. Shot by Paul Sarossy (Exotica (1994) and The Sweet Hereafter (1997)), there's a mix of outside and inside shots. However even for inside camera-work Sarossy manages to keep the camera moving substantially without being distracting. This at least gives the audience something to look at and get an idea of where they are and the scale at which the setting is taking place. Finally the music, which is a mix of instrumental score but mostly singing was good. The best part of this film is seeing the actors actually sing. Other than Huey Lewis (for obvious reasons) singing, who knew Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti, Andre Braugher and Maria Bello could sing so well? It was very believable and certainly made the performance feel a tad more emotional. Again though, if only those characters were written better. The best sung song from the film would be the popular single "Cruisin'" (originally by Smokey Robinson) covered by Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow. A very smooth and enjoyable song. The score produced by familiar composer David Newman was also appropriate. It was anonymous but useful for the scenes required, this time.Sadly even with catchy songs sung legitimately by the actors, good camera-work and solid acting, the entire execution is just a hodgepodge of ideas that don't coalesce as easy as it should have. The individual story lines don't match in tone, which doesn't make the film understandable in its message and the whole concept of karaoke isn't focused on like the premise promotes. It had potential but wasn't utilized properly.

The Duets is very charming, relaxing film. You can take your popcorn, sit back and enjoy adventure of middle age man who decided to put some action in his life and for sure many people will laugh hardly recognizing themselves and their funny moments in frustrations :)I don't want to spoil anything, you just watch this and enjoy in flow of sweet polite characters here and their story. Well, we all are sick from violence and swearing in movies and they are worst year by year so i hope you see this one and fill brain with joy,honesty and love. You can find that in The Duets. For sure.If IMDb allows me to share beautiful music video from this movie it will be great:https://vimeo.com/47710464

This is so underrated movie Five point something.Come on...... What I do like it about this movie is that its gotta soul of its own. Six characters ,trying to do something in lives.What they do its singing. The meaning of their lives.One character particular has a leading role in the film.This is Todd Woods played by Paul Giamatti.His life is being out of control for so many years,always on the run,traveling on the airports,without knowing witch town is visiting , believing in the finesse of the American society.His wife at home is so busy with the computer,no sense at all for his husband.Ever since he takes the microphone and start singing Paul's life suddenly acquiring some meaning.Later on he met Reggy,fugitive from the prison, from whom got love and understanding.Both traveling across America and singing duets in the karaoke they start know each other and a new friendship is borne.Ricky Dean is a karaoke singer.His job is to bets with other people make theme believe that they are better than he is....when he met Liv,who happen to be his daughter,his life changing as well,and Billy who is a owner of half a cab,searching some harmony met a beautiful Suzi Loomis,all of them,trying to be on the final karaoke night. I think this is very enjoyable film to watch it...covered with some of the best pop-soul hits of 80s and 90s. All to all a good drama story 7/10

When somebody mixed chocolate and peanut butter, they invented a great candy bar. Trying to mix the karaoke fad with high drama is just difficult to swallow.This movie tries to inject excitement, dramatic conflict and tension into karaoke, which is nothing more than a fun diversion. Karaoke enthusiasts don't take it or themselves seriously, yet this movie tries to make it something deep and melancholy. It just doesn't work in that context. The film concocts subplots, interweaves them, and somehow stirs them all up together with karaoke as some kind of symbolic catalyst. It introduces characters on their way to a big bucks contest, and casts them into chaotic situations (some even gratuitously violent) along the way.The resulting movie is akin to the worst karaoke singer of all time, who doesn't know all the words, screeching a Madonna hit at the top of their lungs.I like Paul Giamatti, but his mid-life crisis character who is borderline wacko is grossly overstated and out of place. The road trip story with him and a convict just gets more and more contrived and senseless as it progresses. The pairing of Huey Lewis and Gwyneth Paltrow as father and daughter provides a wonderful rendition of "Cruisin'," but not much substance for a story. Huey is a "karaoke hustler"(!) If there is such a thing, I haven't seen one in years of karaoke singing. Other characters are dull and forgettable.Ill conceived and recklessly executed, this story is totally out of tune, and overwhelms the film's positive elements. The karaoke contests were fun, with some amusing moments. The actors all really put their best effort here, but are drowned out by a script that is just one big cacophony of pointless noise.A girl I met at a karaoke place and I thought this would be fun to see on our first date. I wish I could have taken a picture of the look on her face as we left the theater. It was the most hilarious expression I ever saw; far more entertaining than this movie was.