The High Note

Starring: Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ice Cube, Zoe Chao, Bill Pullman, June Diane Raphael, Eddie Izzard, Diplo

Director: Nisha Ganatra

Superstar singer Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross) is at a crossroads in her career, unsure whether she should put out a new album and tour or listen to her manager Jack (Ice Cube) and take a residency in Las Vegas. Maggie (Dakota Johnson) is her personal assistant who has longed to be a music producer since she was a child. After Grace hears and likes Maggie's remix of her upcoming live album, Maggie gains the confidence to finally take that step in her career. Enter David (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), a talented local musician who Maggie lies to about being a producer because she believes she can help him reach the next level. Maggie must now balance her new producing career, a secret she hides from Grace, with making sure Grace's album release party goes off without a hitch.

Nisha Ganatra's follow up to last year's Late Night has a lot of appealing elements to its credit. The script, written by Flora Greeson, was on 2018's esteemed Black List and was able to assemble a talented and appealing cast. Unfortunately, the cast is all it has going for it and makes for a frustrating watch.

Dakota Johnson and Tracee Ellis Ross share fantastic chemistry and when they are on screen together, the film comes alive. Maggie truly loves Grace's music and wants her to release new songs and Grace trusts Maggie even if she doesn't know how to convey that feeling. Unfortunately, their screen time lessens as the film wears on to make room for Johnson and Kelvin Harrison Jr. They too share solid chemistry, despite their relationship being an uninteresting plot line. Ross is so magnetic that it makes me wish she had been the lead character. The film also gets some good chuckles out of Maggie's roommate played by Zoe Chao and Grace's old assistant played by June Diane Raphael.

While the performances are fantastic across the board, a lot of the issues arise from the script. Characterization is all over the map which creates a lot of artificial conflict and tension. The script attempts to make Grace act like Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada, but that doesn't work because Grace doesn't start the film unlikable. She only becomes unlikable when she sees Maggie isn't giving her undivided attention and starts telling her she is terrible at her job, which she isn't. Things that are happening are outside of her control. David also has a similar issue. Maggie gives him good advice, helps him write songs, and finds his comfort zone in the recording booth. When she tells him she lied about being a producer, he gets upset and tells her she never knew what she was doing. Which is insane because despite her lying to him, she still had set up his shot at a big break. And don't get me started on the Crazy, Stupid, Love-esque twist that comes with 10 minutes left in the film to try to wring some false sentimentality and further reinforces that Ross should have been the main character.

Fantastic performances, acting, and music can't save the movie from its wildly inconsistent characters and false sentimentality.

Grade: C-

The High Note is available to rent VOD.