Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The High Note Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 21, 2020

The High Note is a film about a diva, and perhaps a diva wannabe. The fact that co-star Tracee Ellis Ross is the daughter of Diana Ross, and the corollary fact that utilizing either “Diana Ross diva” or “Diana Ross diva behavior” as search queries in your favorite internet sleuth app will result in an almost astounding array of examples reaching back decades (and some of which evidently included Tracee Ellis Ross, at least as a bystander), might lead some to think that The High Note is a slightly fictionalized account of the erstwhile Supreme(s) leader (sorry). If that's the case, though, it might lead to a veritable slew of new questions about the Rosses, including who Diana's favorite personal assistant might be and who Tracee Ellis Ross' secret (half? step?) brother might be. But, more about all of that in due course. The High Note is one of those completely preposterous outings that supposedly gives everyone the "real" skivvy on what it's like to have an entertainment industry career, or at least a career that's a tangent to an entertainment industry career, as in the case of hard working personal assistant Maggie Sherwoode (Dakota Johnson). Maggie works for onetime superstar Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross), who hasn't released an album in years and who is ostensibly probably best remembered as one of those "WEHT" trivia questions, if she's remembered at all, though that said, in just one of this film's completely unrealistic elements, Grace is still on the cover of People and has huge billboards featuring her towering over the San Fernando Valley. And for someone who hasn't had a hit in years, she lives in a completely luxurious style with private jets, a mansion and a sleek sports car. But The High Note wants to proffer Grace as a woman with a career problem while also offering her up as a regularly touring artist playing huge arena venues. Which is it? In the "career problem" category, the film takes the tack that she at least has enough of a fan base that her manager, Jack Robertson (Ice Cube), can get her a "residency" in Las Vegas, and arrange for live albums of Grace churning out her long ago hits.

Now maybe Los Angeles is such an “isolated” place that put upon personal assistants don’t have time to use things like Google, but The High Note ultimately rests upon a patently contrived “coincidence” involving Maggie and Maggie’s pursuit to produce music herself that any person working for a major star (or a one time major star) probably could have figured out with just a little online research. That element won’t be mentioned until later in the review (so spoiler-phobes are forewarned to stop reading now, or soon), but it’s so completely ridiculous that it undercuts any supposed “realism” this film putatively puts forth.

The film actually begins with Maggie, who has managed to get a little free studio time in the venerable Capitol Records building in downtown L.A., where she’s remixing one of Grace’s old songs. The film kind of hilariously documents Maggie’s production expertise by having the character tell an engineer to “limit the gate” and let the sound “bleed”. That, as well as frequent cutaways to ProTools screens on computer monitors, is what suffices for “behind the scenes realism” in this film. Grace is finally introduced when Maggie picks her up from a flight Grace has taken aboard her private jet, and soon enough Grace is also giving career advice to Maggie, albeit through the perhaps unwilling conduit of Jack.

Maggie’s attempts to get her own producing career off the ground results in a relationship with a young singer-songwriter named David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.), and it’s here that The High Note relies on a supposedly “secret” history that is frankly just unbelievable. The film drops hints about this “secret”, but, again, it’s something that certainly seems to be discoverable, especially since David is relatively open about at least part of his history, if not the big supposed revelation the film ultimately offers. But it’s all so patently silly that it makes The High Note play more like a fairy tale than in incisive look at a Hollywood career on life support. This late development also tends to skew the film weirdly away from Maggie and make it more about Grace and David, which is fine, I guess, though structurally disjunctive.

If the story here is both pat and ridiculous in about equal measure, the film is at least graced (sorry) with some good performances. Tracee Ellis Ross comes across as a rather likable diva overall, exhibiting the same kind of generally accessible demeanor she has shown in everything from Black-ish to some of the pitchwoman stuff she's done for television advertisements. Ice Cube is occasionally amusing as a curmudgeonly manager, and Dakota Johnson makes Maggie a sympathetic presence (plus she gets to wear a Quarterflash t-shirt, which, as an Oregonian, I personally loved). The supporting cast includes everyone from Eddie Izzard to Bill Pullman, all of whom do fine if not mind blowing work. The film's song score isn't exactly at the level of Holland-Dozier-Holland (who wrote so many of the Supremes' iconic hits), but it serves the film well enough.

The High Note Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The High Note is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Universal Studios with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Perhaps surprisingly for a film which (arguably due to the pandemic) was a more or less straight to video release, this was finished at a 4K DI (according to the IMDb) from raw data captured by Arri Alexa 65 cameras. The closing credits also offer Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos credits, neither of which have made it to this release. All of that said, this is a typically sharp and well detailed looking presentation. Fine detail is generally beautifully rendered throughout the presentation, and is especially noticeable on some of Grace's more luxe outfits. The palette also pops with quite a bit of power and authenticity, and even "little" elements like Grace's blood red lipstick really look gorgeously suffused. A few of the interior recording studio or even "live" performance segments can look just slightly murky at times.

The High Note Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The High Note features a boisterous DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track that understandably explodes into its most energetic life during some of the musical moments. The onstage sequences featuring Grace belting out her hits of yesteryear offer really forceful moments that have some especially strong lower end activity courtesy of thumping bass and kick drums. Even some of the more folkish moments courtesy of David's tunes offer good surround activity. There's a glut of outdoor material which also provides good use of the side and rear channels for ambient environmental effects. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track.

The High Note Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted / Alternate/ Extended Scenes (1080p; 1:33, 2:26, 1:25, 1:31, 2:34, 1:04, 00:52, 00:38, 00:26, 2:11, 2:08, 00:23, 00:29, 00:43, 00:45, 00:39, 2:17, 00:36, 00:56, 00:47, 00:35, 00:40)


• The Dream Team: Inside the Creation of The High Note (1080p; 5:16) is a standard issue EPK with interviews, behind the scenes footage and snippets from the film.


• Making a Legend: The Grace Davis Story (1080p; 4:04) is a really awkward supplement which is supposed to be an Entertainment Tonight or Behind the Music piece on Grace Davis, but which just comes off as, well, really awkward.


• Like I Do: Original Song Music Video (1080p; 3:08)

The High Note Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

With tongue only slightly in cheek, I might suggest that had The High Note only worked in some kind of murder mystery, it may well have been the first Agatha Christie musical, given its denouement which offers a "hidden" connection between two characters. That supposed surprise in this case may be telegraphed to even the semi-alert well before it's officially doled out. Fans of the cast will probably find this an appealing enough time passer, and technical merits are solid for those considering a purchase.