The Blues Brothers (1980) - A Movie Review

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"Joliet" Jake Blues (John Belushi) is paroled on good behavior from Joliet Correctional Center. His brother Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) picks him up in a used Plymouth police car with cop tires, cop suspension and a 440 cubic-inch engine. The Blues Brothers are back together; and they have a new Bluesmobile. They visit the "Penguin", Sister Mary Stigmata, head nun at the Catholic orphanage where they grew up in downtown Chicago. The orphanage needs $5,000 to pay property taxes or the it will be closed. The brothers go to a Baptist church where Reverand Cleophus James (James Brown) delivers an uplifting sermon. Jake "sees the light" and realizes that he must put the Blues Brothers Band back together to raise the $5,000. They are now on "a mission from God". Elwood runs a red light and gets pulled over by local state troopers. Upon running Elwood's information through the database system they learn that he has a number of moving violations and traffic tickets. The intent is to impound the car; but Elwood takes off. What follows is a classic scene in this movie. I don't give out spoilers; so suffice to say that it's a doozy. This movie did well at the box office and received mostly positive reviews. It has become a cult classic. It is filled with name stars, such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin, and great music. The Blues Brothers was a based on recurring musical skits developed and performed on Saturday Night Live by Belushi and Aykroyd. If you've never seen the 1980's version of The Blues Brothers (see trailer below), I highly recommend that you see it...or if you have seen it, definitely try and watch it again! The Blues Brothers is rated R. Photo Credit: Pixabay