Stand Up Guys (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1389096/) is a movie about aging gangsters centering around Val’s (Al Pacino) release from prison after the accidental killing of a crime bosses son.
In it, they use the ‘battle cry’ before committing a crime:
One: “So what will it be? Chew gum or kick ass?”
Another: “I’m all out of gum.”
Both the soundtrack and the film, despite critics panning it, were both out of gum.
(Video: Spoiler Alert)
The main genre of the film is ‘funk’ which was originally intended to be a danceable form of R&B but has gone on to take a colour of its own. That synopsis doesn’t do ‘funk’ justice so to read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funk .
When Val is released from prison, we get this gem from Baby Huey who was set to break internationally when his life was cut short by a drug related heart attack:
Val has a special way with people even though he steps out of gentlemanly behaviour from time to time. He wants to dance with a woman after 26 years in prison. He approaches a group of women and has a glass of wine thrown in his face for being announcing he had a “python in his pants harder than the Rock of Gibral…”. (the quote ends abruptly with a splash). Having recovered himself, he returns, after greasing the DJ to play something from “when music was music”. He promises to be a pure gentlemen and he only wants one single dance. One of the group agrees and they dance to:
Discovering Charles Bradley was almost worth the ‘cost of admission’ for this film. I deliberately picked a video where you can’t see him perform, because he sounds like he’s straight out of 1969, and he was around then. But, if you google him, he has a fascinating life history and is currently performing. He’s a living legend.
At this moment in the film Doc (Christopher Walken) is grappling with his forced assignment of killing his best friend who lies next to him asleep in the car.
I look at him and said, “Brother, don’t leave me, don’t leave me”
How long? How long? How long?
Must you keep something like this
— http://www.songlyrics.com/charles-bradley/how-long-lyrics/#ODYTodEl0Ahq4XhB.99
Jon Bon Jovi, makes some interesting contributions to the soundtrack, however, I’d have preferred if they were more in the funk/soul style of the rest of the soundtrack. The songs are nice but it’s like introducing Elliot Smith:
right in the middle of a wrenching soul ballad:
Their presence in the soundtrack were jarring to the tone of the film, but the songs are noteworthy nonetheless:
So rest assured “Stand Up Guys” won’t let you down in the soundtrack department and, despite some critics, is an amazing movie.
http://www.amazon.com/Stand-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/dp/B009INAHDA
