DANNY Glover plays the broke owner of a failing bar and blues club called “Honeydripper,” a movie that won’t draw a much bigger audience than that club.
The film, set in 1950 Alabama, finds Glover’s character and his pal (Charles Dutton) trying to resurrect the bar, whose sleepy entertainment acts are keeping the place empty, by hiring local legend “Guitar Sam” to come in and play some danceable tunes to compete with the more swingin’ joint nearby. When Guitar Sam doesn’t show up, a local drifter (Gary Clark Jr.) steps in to impersonate Guitar Sam and save the place.
Written and directed by the indefatigable indie idol John Sayles, the movie is well-acted, but it’s as talky as if it were written for the stage, with fatally slow pacing. Strictly for hard-core Sayles fans and maybe for lovers of American roots music.
Running time: 122 minutes. Rated PG-13 (brief violence, suggestive material). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street east of Fifth Avenue.