Duets [DVD] [2000]

The film centers around six people, who end up pairing off in unusual combinations and traveling the karaoke circuit. At the inception of this film, all these people, even those who ultimately pair up, are strangers to each other. All three pairs travel their own route to get the Omaha, the location for the big daddy of all karaoke competitions, in order to compete in the karaoke finals for a grand prize of five thousand dollars. En route to and while in Omaha, they all discover a number of things about themselves and each other.

One unlikely pair consists of Todd Woods (Paul Giamatti) and Reggie Kane (Andre Braugher). Todd is a salesman who is fed up with his job and tired of being ignored by his wife and children. He decides that he is mad as hell and is not going to take it any more. So, he basically runs away from home. He stumbles into a bar, takes up the challenge to sing karaoke, and, voila, a star is born. While driving aimlessly, he runs into hitchhiker Reggie Kane, a man who has gone to prison for exercising bad judgment and is packing a semi-automatic pistol. He and the now nutty Todd form an unlikely friendship.

The second unlikely pair consists of Billy (Scott Speedman) and Suzi Loomis (Maria Bello). Billy is a young, straight-laced cab driver, a former seminarian, who has just had his world rocked when he discovers that his girl friend has been two timing him with his business partner. Wallowing in his misery, he runs into Suzi Loomis who promises to gratify him sexually if he drives her to California. She is an aspiring karaoke singer who does the karaoke circuit for the money. Unfortunately, she also does any men who might have something she needs.

The third unlikely pair consists of a father and daughter team. Ricky Dean (Huey Lewis), is a small time hustler who can sing, so he hustles at karaoke bars. He goes to Vegas when he hears than an old girlfriend has died, and discovers that he has a daughter, Liv (Gwyneth Paltrow), after an almost incestuous welcome. Ricky doesn't want to be a daddy at this stage of the game, but Liv wants to have a father in the worst way. So, she follows him, and they end up hustling together at a karaoke bar, as she, too, can sing.

The one really disturbing thing about this Disney film is that once again Hollywood's inherent racism rears up its ugly head by casting the only African-American in the film in the role of the convict. I am sure the Disney studio was pleased with itself to be including a token African-American in the film in the first place. Why couldn't it think out of the box, however, and have one of the other characters be African-American? Shame on Disney for choosing, instead, to propagate an unflattering stereotype.

Still, this is definitely an odd, quirky movie about the wacky world of competitive karaoke singing and the denizens who inhabit that world. The performances in this film are excellent, overall, and the singing is terrific, although the ending is a bit of a stretch. It is not, however, a film for everyone. It is a strangely fascinating film that will appeal to those who enjoy unusual, offbeat films.