Drumline (Full Screen Edition)
by Charles Stone III
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: GQ, Leonard Roberts, Nick Cannon, Orlando Jones, Zoe SaldanaDirector: Charles Stone III
Producer: Dallas Austin
Producer: Greg Mooradian
Producer: Jody Gerson
Producer: Timothy M. Bourne
Producer: Wendy Finerman
Writer: Shawn Schepps
Writer: Tina Gordon Chism
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 118 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-04-15
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Product features:
- Full Screen Edition
- Bonus Features
Movie Reviews of Drumline (Full Screen Edition)
Movie Review: Night Basketballs, or Bands for Inner City Schools?
Summary: 5 Stars
This fictionalized account of what life is like to have "the black marching band experience," brings back so many memories, that each year before the super bowl, I drag it out and watch as if it were a family religious rite. Why do I do this?
Because, although the movie conflates the marching band and college fraternity experiences -- obviously in a crude attempt to enrich the former -- that conflation was totally unnecessary. For, of all the experiences that a young struggling black student could have, it would be difficult to beat that of becoming a member of a marching band. To wit: learning how to master a musical instrument; how to read and appreciate music of all varieties; gaining self-confidence through this mastery; and most important of all learning how to excel at a craft whose only predicate is not just "making money."
As well, there is the constructive collaboration with fellow students, other schools, professional artists, etc. that the movie brings out beautifully. There is also the intense competition and rivalries, which although they also have many positive aspects, can and often do get out of hand. There is the close interaction between students and their band directors, who, more often than not, are proficient in music and on several musical instruments themselves. And thus more often than not, band directors serve as more than just overseers and administrators of the students they teach. They are more like mentors, with the students being their apprentices.
But this is not all: The movie did not depict what happens to those who find success in those bands. Not only do most of them go one to become well-adjusted, socially successful productive citizens, but also successes professionally. In fact one of the best kept secrets in the black social realm is that it is the black college band that is the "feeder system" for most of the black professional musicians, including Jazz musicians and concert and symphony orchestra musicians. And as strange as it may seem, it is the black college band that is also in large measure responsible for black professionals in other areas such as law, medicine, and even engineering.
Why is this so? I think it is mainly true for two reasons. First there are so few opportunities for black kids to get on a secure track that can lead to consistent self-development. The band, like sports is one such alternative track. And second because of the Darwinian process involved in both sports and music: only the strong can survive the rigorous schedules involved in balancing normal studies with the discipline involved in mastering a horn or sports at the same time. Everything about the black band experience as it turns out is profound and sound preparation for life. When you complete your tenure in a band, you are master of at least one important thing in life: your instrument.
Which brings me to my final point about the movie. When I saw this year's Fourth of July parade, in which the DC black high schools were represented by overweight baton twirlers accompanied by a ragtag drum corps, it took my breath away and left a knot in my stomach. I was not ready for this surprise. For in that instant, viewing these faux black bands, I saw the arc of a whole generation of black failures marching in lock step into a dark American future.
By not supporting inner city music programs, while hiring an expensive Superintendent, Michelle Rhee, to further cut the budgets, under the pretext of making the schools better, DC had made its choice: "To hell with enriching the lives of inner city kids, we are trying to save the taxpayer money at all cost? It is school vouchers and gutting the public schools as far as the eye can see, that can make the difference (in the budget but not in the quality of the schools)."
No, Rhee has got it all wrong:The way to make a difference in DC schools (as well as all the other inner city schools in the U.S.) is to implement the 1954 Supreme Court Decision to the letter instead of rendering it null and void, and then make sure that all black kids have the same right to enter music programs as white kids do. QED. Five Stars.
Summary of Drumline (Full Screen Edition)
A band director recruits a Harlem street drummer to play at a Southern university.Once you've seen Drumline, halftime shows will become works of art. This formulaic yet surprisingly captivating movie honors the military precision of college football marching bands, those battalions of eager, sternly disciplined brass sections, drummers, and fly girls who turn halftime shows into well-oiled Vegas variety acts on steroids. Devon (played by Will Smith protégé Nick Cannon) is a cocky Brooklyn kid with a snare-drumming scholarship to (fictional) Atlanta A&T University. He can't read music (he lied on his application) and his attitude sucks, but he's the best natural drummer the college has ever had, so he quickly rises through the marching band ranks. The school year brings Devon the obligatory girlfriend (Zoë Saldana, smart and charming); clashes with his old-school band director (Orlando Jones); and well-earned redemption at the championship marching band showdown. No surprises here, but great chemistry all around, and a fantastic, positive role-model showcase for a musical form that has evolved far beyond the main street parades of Smalltown, U.S.A. --Jeff Shannon
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