THE BLUES BROTHERS
IT’S DARK AND WE’RE WEARING READING GLASSES
★★★★ AUTHOR DANIEL DE VISÉ
JOHN LANDIS’ 1980 film The Blues Brothers is a Looney Tunes cartoon writ real: brazenly combining glorious R’N’B, spectacular car crashes, and the idiosyncratic comedy stylings of Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi. Such a bonkers movie is inevitably the result of a bonkers making-of story — one that Daniel De Visé’s impeccably researched, clear-headed, highly entertaining book does full justice to. But there is much more going on here than just a document of a single film.
Firstly, The Blues Brothers: An Epic Friendship, The Rise Of Improv, And The Making Of An American Film Classic is a portrait of two pals. After charting Belushi and Aykroyd’s upbringing, De Visé pinpoints the pair’s first meeting (it was the latter who first schooled the former in the blues). The pair were famously described as ‘Mr Careful’ (Aykroyd) and ‘Mr Fuck It’ (Belushi), and De Visé vividly brings the ‘opposites attract’ dynamic alive.
Beyond Belushi and Aykroyd, De Visé also traces the sea change in ’70s American comedy, charting the rise of improvisational troupes such as The National Lampoon and Second City (Belushi appeared in a Moby Dick musical containing the lyric, “He ain’t heavy/he’s my blubber”). All roads led to Saturday Night Live, and De Visé argues that this was the first generation of comedians who grew up with television; they knew how to bend and stretch the medium to the limit.
When it gets to The Blues Brothers on screen, De Visé delivers a satisfying deep dive into every aspect of production, from writing (Landis added such quotable lines as, “We’re on a mission from God”) to release. The book doesn’t skimp on the cast excesses — Carrie Fisher was speechless on acid filming the Mystery Woman’s manicure — but also delivers strong accounts of the car carnage, wrangles with executives and the Chicago-ness of it all. De Visé, a biographer of B.B. King, is also good on the music, writing with respect but not over-reverence about the bona fide soul legends who cameoed in the movie (we learn Ray Charles often had to pee).
The contours of this story, especially surrounding Belushi’s addictions, are familiar, and De Visé often over-describes scenes from the film. But the book concludes with a textured, gripping but never salacious account of Belushi’s last days, and what stays with you longer is the resolve and love of Belushi’s long-suffering wife, Judy. This is perhaps the book’s finest achievement: finding the humanity behind the sunglasses.
VERDICT Not only nirvana for Blues Brothers nerds but a fascinating snapshot of a cultural moment and a touching study of an unlikely friendship. Black hats off!