Very entertaining. Alot of story lines, but if you can keep up, it's a great movie. Andre Benjamin delivers a dramatic music & acting performance. His music scenes were my favorite.

Idlewild is a magnificent blend of art, music, and film making all in one. Absolutely stunning in its storytelling and visual presentation. By far one of the most underrated masterpieces of American cinema ever.The actors are all in their prime especially 3000, and BigBoi, who both turn in stellar performances carrying the entire film on their shoulders with easy and style. Paula Patton who's stunning looks and golden skin seem to be the basis for the color palette of this film. And Terrance Howard shines through as he always does. Even as the films villain he is a joy to watch taking his craft to heights few actors ever do.The sets are seamless, filled with details and clues to the plot and yet never distracting. And the lighting and cinematography come together in a constant display of beauty.We can only surmise that the ever present racial dysfunction of American society is to blame for the film not receiving the exposure it should have in promotions, and the theatrical release being around half of what a similar film would receive if the actors were all white.The film also received absolutely NO nominations or awards of any kind outside of specifically Black Entertainment awards ceremonies. Which is disgraceful and furthers my point. The American people see race before talent. And its a sad statement about how far we have not come as a nation that something as significant as Idlewild would receive the lack of attention that it has to this day.Hopefully in time it will receive the reverence it deserves.

The beginning of this film is enticing…a narrator describes his Childhood, background music pure good jazz, and photography in black & White transforming into colour, and then a beautiful butterfly takes us into the life and day dreams of a boy named Percival is unfolding in front of our eyes. The film commemorates the lifestyle and culture of black people in the US in early 20th century. The photography and special effects in this film are superb. I am still not sure about who is who with a few of the peripheral cast members. But quite a few of them gave wonderful performances: André Benjamin who plays Percival Jenkins gives a touching performance, and so were Big Boi who plays Rooster/Antwan A. Patton and the beautiful Paula Patton who plays Angel Davenport, and it does not hurt that she is exceptionally beautiful, Ben Vereen who comes in as Percival Senior, and Terrence Howard as Trumpy. In Trumpy's case the paradox is the soft voice as against harsh action and character. I don't know the reason why this film did not get more attention. I for one am glad it was put on TV if only for the wonderful music, dance Routines, for which I cannot find any credit; and exceptionally good Acting cast. The decor, costumes, and photography in this film are exquisite. The collection of clocks is an added nice touch. It seems that the director Bryan Barber, who has had experience in directing music videos, had a few shortfalls when it came to directing a full feature. Some scenes were too lengthy, and one sex scene I could have done without. I even slumbered away in the middle of the film and had to re-watch it, since I felt it was unique and deserved a complete attention. I wonder what another director would have done with this interesting story and cast.

I was completely struck by this movie and I am the type of person that doesn't remember the movie the day after seeing it. For maybe the first time ever, I would have watched this movie 2 times in a row. The characters were very interesting and the acting by the guys from Outkast, especially Andre 3000 was excellent. The music was excellent and truly added to the film. The cinematography was so interesting. Just watching the opening credits you will see what I mean. A must see for anyone!! The film follows the life of 2 friends growing up and into a life of speakeasies, bootlegging, and gangster crime. Of course they both had very different levels of involvement in it. i loved the way that the characters were able to overcome obstacles in their way to meet their true destiny