| The Five Heartbeats | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Robert Townsend[1] |
| Produced by | Christina Schmidlin Robert Townsend Kokayi Ampah Loretha C. Jones[2] |
| Written by | Robert Townsend Keenan Ivory Wayans[3] |
| Starring | Robert Townsend Michael Wright Leon Harry J. Lennix Tico Wells Harold Nicholas Diahann Carroll[1] |
| Music by | Stanley Clarke[1] |
| Cinematography | Bill Dill |
| Editing by | John Carter |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox[4] |
| Release date(s) | March 29, 1991 (U.S.)[5] |
| Running time | 122 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English[4] |
The Five Heartbeats is a 1991 musical drama film directed by Robert Townsend, who co-wrote the script with Keenan Ivory Wayans. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, the film's main cast includes Townsend, Michael Wright, Leon Robinson, Harry J. Lennix, Tico Wells, Harold Nicholas of the Nicholas Brothers, and Diahann Carroll.[1] The plot of the film (which is loosely based on the lives of several artists: The Dells, The Temptations, Four Tops, Wilson Pickett, James Brown, Frankie Lymon, Sam Cooke and others)[6] follows the three decade career of the R&B vocal group The Five Heartbeats. The film depicts the rise and fall of a Motown inspired soul act through the eyes of the film's main protagonist, Donald "Duck" Matthews (portrayed by Townsend), who serves as a narrator[7] throughout the film. However, a majority of the cinema is presented in a consecutive time line as opposed to traditional flash backs.
The film includes a significant amount of original music conceived by various artists for the film's soundtrack, including singles such as "A Heart Is a House for Love", "We Haven't Finished Yet", and "Nothing But Love".
The film was released to most North American audiences March 29, 1991[8] however it was not made available to audiences in other continents until 2002 when a DVD was released prior to another DVD release in 2006 for the film's 15th anniversary.[9] The movie received mixed reviews from critics.[10][11]
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In the early 1990s, Donald "Duck" Matthews browses a Rolling Stone magazine, noticing an article questioning the recent exploits of The Five Heartbeats, The Temptations, and The Four Tops and why the groups disbanded.
In a flashback, Donald Matthews, Anthony "Choir Boy" Stone, J.T. Matthews and Terrence "Dresser" Williams are preparing to perform at a music contest. They are forced to prepare to sing both their vocals and those of other members since Eddie King Jr. and Bobby, the lead singers, are missing. Bobby and Eddie cheat while gambling. Bobby is shot in the leg, but Eddie arrives at the contest and performs with the Heartbeats.
The group loses to Flash and the Ebony Sparks but pleases the crowd and is noticed by music producer Jimmy Potter. Jimmy offers to manage the group; to prove he has their best interests at heart he promises them $100 from his own pocket if they do not win first prize the next month. After a more polished performance the group still loses. Jimmy pays the group, and they sign a contract with him. Jimmy brings in Ernest "Sarge" Johnson as the group's choreographer. After vigorous training Sarge and Jimmy feel the Heartbeats are ready to perform in a larger competition. Bird witnesses the Heartbeats rehearsing their routine and is concerned his group could lose; he asks his girlfriend to invite her friends and boo The Heartbeats while cheering The Midnight Falcons. The announcer, Bird's cousin, forces The Heartbeats to use a piano player they are unfamiliar with. He also claims that The Heartbeats believe themselves to be better than the other groups.
The Heartbeats perform "A Heart Is a House for Love". Duck grows frustrated with the house piano player's butchering of the music and takes over the piano. Eddie leads the group in a number that results in Bird's girlfriend fainting in Eddie's arms. Watching in the audience is Flash, leader of the Ebony Sparks. The Heartbeats win the contest with a standing ovation and the interest of Big Red, who owns Big Red Records. Big Red offers them a deal, but Jimmy and his wife Eleanor, aware of Big Red's corrupt operations, decline. The group searches for a record company they can trust, but the only ones that will sign them are Caucasian operated and insist that their songs be covered by a white group named The Five Horsemen, giving the Heartbeats only minor song writing credit, thus forcing them to sign with Big Red.
The group goes on the road. Choir Boy's father is concerned he will forget where he comes from, Dresser has a girl back home, Eddie's father is waiting for him to fail and J.T. and Duck have a family depending on them. The travel is marked by racism and poor living conditions. Dresser's girlfriend visits at the same time as the record rep from Big Red. Dresser finds out his girlfriend is pregnant and they are faced with their first album cover having white people on the cover. Despite their problems, the group becomes successful.
Throughout the mid to late 1960s The Five Heartbeats receive numerous awards, charting several hits, and being featured on magazine covers. Eddie abuses alcohol and cocaine, causing him to miss rehearsals and performances as well as losing his girlfriend. Eddie becomes paranoid and attempts to blackmail the other Heartbeats and Jimmy using his new deal with Big Red, along with buying Jimmy out of his contract. Jimmy threatens to go to authorities with information about bootlegged LPs, cooked books and payola that could have Big Red arrested, leading Red to have Jimmy killed. In the wake of the murder, the group learns that Eddie's deceit was behind the argument between Jimmy and Big Red. The group gets together to talk and includes Bird, whom Red beat up when he questioned his bookkeeping, to put Big Red away. Big Red is convicted of Jimmy's murder and the group moves to a new record label, but, despite Duck's pleas, Eddie leaves the group in disgrace.
The Heartbeats add former rival Flash as their lead singer, which angers J.T. due to their rivalry over women. Duck has gained the attention of Tanya Sawyer, whom he lusted after since meeting her in Jimmy's living room years ago. After their engagement, he suspects she is having an affair. After she leaves the house, he follows her to a hotel. The doorman asks for his autograph and marvels at the fact that he is the second Heartbeat the doorman has seen that night; his brother is already upstairs. Duck realizes Tanya is cheating on him with his brother. As Duck leaves, his fiancee and brother fight. Tanya has been trying to break things off, but he insists that she break things off with Duck. Tanya refuses, insisting she loves Duck. At an awards ceremony celebrating their success, Flash announces he is leaving the group. Duck reveals that he knows about Tanya and J.T., and that he, too, is no longer a Heartbeat.
Several years later, Duck receives a letter from Choir Boy, who returned to his father's church. He asks Duck to come to a service. When he enters the church Choir Boy's father is speaking then the choir starts singing and Eddie and Baby Doll step up to sing lead. After the service Duck reunites with Eddie, Choir Boy and Baby Doll. Eddie is clean, sober and married to Baby Doll, and also manages a group. He asks Duck to write songs for them, to which he agrees. He urges Duck to contact J.T. Duck finds J.T. in a park with a wife (an old girlfriend with whom he shared a bathroom sex scene at the beginning of the movie) and two children, including a son affectionately named "Duck". The brothers reconcile.
In the early 1990s, Flash has transitioned from doo wop to pop, as the lead singer of Flash and The Five Horsemen. The Heartbeats are disappointed by the music and aspire to show their families how they performed at the peak of their career. At first Eddie declines to join the other Heartbeats but Eleanor Potter, coming to terms with her husband's death, forgives Eddie.
The Five Heartbeats reunite at the end in front of their families and friends, trying graciously to remember their old moves.
After writing (along with Keenan Ivory Wayans), producing, directing, and starring in his previous film Hollywood Shuffle, Robert Townsend had gained a near cult status with independent filmmakers due to his dedication to the past film which caused him to max out all his credit cards and spend nearly $100,000 of his own money raised through savings and various acting jobs in order to produce the film. When writing Townsend's first feature length film, The Five Heartbeats, Townsend and Wayans kept comedy an important aspect of the film, but ventured to explore complex characters in a more dramatic way.[12] After extensive research with R&B singing group The Dells, who are renowned for their four-decade career, Townsend used his film to depict a similar story following three friend's who aspire to become musicians.[2] Due to the setting of the film, he was able to tie in other elements, such as race relations, as well.[2] Due to the movie's budgetary constraints, Townsend used little-known actors of the time, with the exceptions of Leon Robinson, Diahann Carroll and Harold Nicholas of The Nicholas Brothers.[1]
To promote the film, Townsend, along with other actors who portrayed the fictional musical quartet The Five Heartbeats (Leon Robinson, Michael Wright, Harry J. Lennix, and Tico Wells) performed with real life Soul/R&B band The Dells (one of the many groups that inspired the movie) in a concert prior to the film's released. Similar to the movie's musical performances, The Dells sang the vocals and recorded mix tapes as the actors lip synced.[13]
| The Five Heartbeats (Music from the Motion Picture) |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |||
| Released | April 2, 1991 | ||
| Genre | Pop, Soul | ||
| Label | Capitol[9][14] | ||
| Professional reviews | |||
Allmusic [15] |
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A soundtrack for the film was released by Virgin Records featuring original music from both the film and those recorded by various artists (most predominately the Dells) for the soundtrack. Both Nights Like This and A Heart Is a House for Love went on to become top 20 hits on the Hot R&B Singles section of the US Billboard music charts.[15] The entire album is described in an inuniverse tense, crediting the songs to fictional characters in the film as opposed to the actual vocalists. (Note: While original music by The Four Tops, The Dells and The Delfonics was played during the 60's era of the movie, none of the songs appear on the soundtrack.)
The film grossed approximately $8,500,000[2][16] after being released in 862 theaters throughout North America, however despite the film's moderate success it was not well received by a majority of critics.[7] On Rotten Tomatoes The Five Heartbeats accumulated an average of 46% positive reviews, although only 13 reviews were counted (6 of which were positive, the remaining seven negative).[7]
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times commented that "...at feature length, Townsend shows a real talent, and, not surprisingly, an ability to avoid most cliches, to go for the human truth in his characters...by the end we really care about these guys..."[11]
Due to the nature of the film, music montages were commonly used to progress the plot; critics considered this to be a major flaw.[17] Ebert states in his review that numerous scenes in the film serve no purpose other than to represent the racism encountered by African-American musical acts during the early 1960s.[11]
The numerous musical performances were highly acclaimed,[17] All music complimented the Dells lead singer Marvin Junior (the vocalist who provided the singing voice for fictional character Eddie King, Jr.) stating him to be "one of the most underrated voices in pop music."[14] Tressa Thomas's performance of "We Haven't Finished Yet" in particular was described by critics as favorable.[18][19] The film received an ASCAP award for Most Performed Songs in a Motion Picture for the song "Nights Like This."[20]
A DVD was released for the film in 2002, a special edition was also released in 2006 for the film's 15th Anniversary which includes additional content.[9]
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