The High Note
Dakota Johnson and Black-ish star Tracee Ellis Ross lead this Los Angeles music biz dramedy directed by Emmy nominee Nisha Ganatra.
Middle-aged pop superstar Grace Davis (Ross) wants to record a new album, but her manager (Ice Cube) thinks that taking a Vegas residency is the right move at this stage of her career. Enter Grace's overworked - and often overlooked - assistant, Maggie (Johnson). Aspiring to become a music producer, Maggie tries to hatch a plan that will see Grace succeed while also fulfilling her own dreams.
- Director:
- Nisha Ganatra ('Late Night', 'Chutney Popcorn', 'Cake')
- Writer:
- Flora Greeson
- Cast:
- Dakota JohnsonTracee Ellis RossZoe ChaoKelvin Harrison Jr.Ice CubeBill PullmanJune Diane RaphaelSandra RoskoEddie IzzardDiplo
Reviews & comments
Really great movie
It was a great movie it had original songs by Grace Davies. The movie is based on the life of grace Davies after she was on X factor and how the fame and fortune and her ego took over and had an assistant who wanted to be a music producer. I liked it because it had great music , it has actors from the good place and Brooklyn nine nine . It had actors from...
Stuff
pressThe High Note is either a light-hearted and likeable fantasy of the LA music industry, or a white-washed, clueless and resolutely tone-deaf take on the same. Over to you.
San Francisco Chronicle
press“The High Note” begins well, ends well and even has a good middle, but there’s one extra plot turn, about 15 minutes before the finish, that’s one too many.
Empire Magazine
pressIt’s a predictable but entertaining set-up, buoyed by the sparkling chemistry between Johnson and Ross, and a glossy Hollywood aesthetic that vibes nicely with the film’s energetic pace and smooth soul jams.
The Washington Post
pressThankfully, “The High Note” is full of funny, charming and diverting supporting performances, especially Ice Cube as the perpetually grumpy Jack; June Diane Raphael as Grace’s catty house manager; and Kelvin Harrison Jr., who delivers an impressive and utterly persuasive turn as a gifted singer Maggie meets in a Laurel Canyon market.
A.V. Club
pressThe characters’ overall niceness makes the movie pleasant in the moment—and easy to shrug off as a fantasy.
Entertainment Weekly
pressWhat director Nisha Ganatra (Late Night) mostly settles for is the softest corners of feel-good dramedy; a screwball fairy tale sung in the key of corny.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThere are lip-service feminist nods to the exclusionary nature of the music industry for women over a certain age, especially women of color, and to the boys' club that gets access to the recording studio mixing booth. But this is not a movie that goes anywhere near deep on industry politics.
IndieWire
pressInevitably, the tensions between Grace and Maggie will need to be resolved, but the film limps to a tied-up conclusion with all sorts of boring razzle-dazzle that only distracts from the film’s very compelling central relationship.
Variety
pressJust when you’re sure this tinsel fairy tale can’t get any more glittery, there’s a last-act twist that will leave you going “No, they didn’t!” Yes, they did.
Slant Magazine
pressNisha Ganatra’s The High Note is ostensibly about the virtues of taking risks in art-making, of sacrificing the comforts of coasting on past successes for the hard-won rewards of creating something new. And yet the film itself is as formulaic as they come...
Stuff
pressThe High Note is either a light-hearted and likeable fantasy of the LA music industry, or a white-washed, clueless and resolutely tone-deaf take on the same. Over to you.
San Francisco Chronicle
press“The High Note” begins well, ends well and even has a good middle, but there’s one extra plot turn, about 15 minutes before the finish, that’s one too many.
Empire Magazine
pressIt’s a predictable but entertaining set-up, buoyed by the sparkling chemistry between Johnson and Ross, and a glossy Hollywood aesthetic that vibes nicely with the film’s energetic pace and smooth soul jams.
The Washington Post
pressThankfully, “The High Note” is full of funny, charming and diverting supporting performances, especially Ice Cube as the perpetually grumpy Jack; June Diane Raphael as Grace’s catty house manager; and Kelvin Harrison Jr., who delivers an impressive and utterly persuasive turn as a gifted singer Maggie meets in a Laurel Canyon market.
A.V. Club
pressThe characters’ overall niceness makes the movie pleasant in the moment—and easy to shrug off as a fantasy.
Entertainment Weekly
pressWhat director Nisha Ganatra (Late Night) mostly settles for is the softest corners of feel-good dramedy; a screwball fairy tale sung in the key of corny.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThere are lip-service feminist nods to the exclusionary nature of the music industry for women over a certain age, especially women of color, and to the boys' club that gets access to the recording studio mixing booth. But this is not a movie that goes anywhere near deep on industry politics.
IndieWire
pressInevitably, the tensions between Grace and Maggie will need to be resolved, but the film limps to a tied-up conclusion with all sorts of boring razzle-dazzle that only distracts from the film’s very compelling central relationship.
Variety
pressJust when you’re sure this tinsel fairy tale can’t get any more glittery, there’s a last-act twist that will leave you going “No, they didn’t!” Yes, they did.
Slant Magazine
pressNisha Ganatra’s The High Note is ostensibly about the virtues of taking risks in art-making, of sacrificing the comforts of coasting on past successes for the hard-won rewards of creating something new. And yet the film itself is as formulaic as they come...
Really great movie
It was a great movie it had original songs by Grace Davies. The movie is based on the life of grace Davies after she was on X factor and how the fame and fortune and her ego took over and had an assistant who wanted to be a music producer. I liked it because it had great music , it has actors from the good place and Brooklyn nine nine . It had actors from...
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