The new romantic comedy “The High Note” is kinda like “The Devil Wears Prada,” but here the devil is a supernice lady with whom you want to drink wine.
Tracee Ellis Ross plays a famous singer named Grace Davis, who’s not quite a has-been, but far from a who’s-who. Your mom would love her. She’s unmarried and single, and is accompanied everywhere by her doting assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who’s an aspiring music producer.
After Johnson’s rough-and-tumble ride in the “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy, it’s always a relief to see the actress smiling in the sun, freed from the tyranny of S&M whips and paddles.
However, despite Maggie’s eagerness, Grace’s manager Jack (Ice Cube) tells her: “Do your job and get her coffee, Kleenex and Kotex!”
Not to be deterred, Maggie makes her own cut of Grace’s new album in secret and gets finger-wagged for her transgression. If she were Miranda Priestly’s assistant, she would’ve been instantly fired for her reckless audacity.
Maggie then masquerades as a music producer to work with a cute guy she discovers singing outside a grocery store named David (a golden-voiced Kelvin Harrison Jr.). He lives alone in a sprawling LA manse with an in-ground pool and a wine cellar. Maggie finds this weird at first, but asks no follow-up questions.
With David’s help, Margaret tries to prove to Grace that she’s got the chops to be a proper producer.
Directed by Nisha Ganatra (“Late Night”), “The High Note” is a pleasant watch, but you never quite believe any of it is really happening, like a two-hour version of “Grease’s” “Beauty School Dropout.” The lovable Ross, who does her own singing, doesn’t have her mom Diana’s diva energy, and Johnson speaks with only a rote understanding of music. The film’s one twist is as predictable as “The Macarena”.
Still, “The High Note” makes you feel good, in parts, but as far as rom-coms go it’s a B-side.
