guyfairey To be quite direct, this movie was terrible, yet we learned two things. First Huey Lewis, though I love his music, just cannot act. Secondly, sorry to say, but Gwyneth Paltrow cannot sing. This film about the karaoke world often is inconsistent and wrong. Giamatti does a great job with his convict partner, but outside of that, don't wait too long for the good scenes. There are not many. It is sad that of all of the great songs written for duets and otherwise, the writers chose some of the poorest titles for this movie. The film makes little sense, and is just a bad attempt at entertaining. As the grand world winds down to Omaha, there is nothing but discord and rather poor plots in an attempt to make something of this mess. This is a comedy, but there is very little to smile about.

SnoopyStyle Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis) hustles karaoke like a pool shark. He reconnects with his estranged daughter Liv (Gwyneth Paltrow) and go on the road together. Todd Woods (Paul Giamatti) is a struggling traveling businessman and family man. He picks up hitchhiking escaped convict Reggie Kane (Andre Braugher). Billy (Scott Speedman) is a heartbroken cabbie who picks up Suzi Loomis (Maria Bello). The three duos are headed for a national karaoke competition in Omaha.It's a bunch of people in this small world of competitive karaoke. The good is that it treats this world sincerely. The characters are rather scattered and doesn't necessarily add up to an exciting story. Ricky and Liv have a nice father and daughter story. Woods and Kane are going crazy. It does have some good singing from surprising sources especially Paltrow and Braugher. This movie is very much like karaoke. You get surprised at how good some of the singing turns out to be but the intangible substance is not always there.

DJJOEINC duets - surprisingly dark comedy about the Karoake circuit-sure there are plot holes and some saccharine moments- but the Paul Giamati/Andre Braugher duo provide plenty of chuckles and even some touching moments- they had good chemistry - Giamati is going thru a major mid-life crisis and randomly picks up parole violator Andre Braugher - I am not doing their story justice- but I try to avoid spoilers.Maria Bello does an excellent job as a singer who bargains her way across the country using her body as collateral.A fun ensemble comedy- inconsistent but worth renting for the Giamatti/Braugher team.The DVD has a dry commentary by the director. B-

Paul Reynolds I discovered this movie a couple of years ago and was charmed by its fragile characters and beautiful soundtrack that seems to create character depth that the script doesn't. Huey Lewis (Ricky Dean) was, surprisingly, very strong in his role as a reluctant father to Gwyneth Paltrow's character, Liv. While I found some of the acting to be wooden, and the direction was often predictable, there is something that appealed to me - I feel that the characters spoke through the music rather than the narrative, thus lifting the movie to a higher level. A mention also has to go to Braugher and Giamatti who are a delightful combination right up to the heartbreaking climax.