"The High Note" offers a pleasantly simple melody to hum

A personal assistant gets a front-row seat for the most glamorous and everyday moments in your employer's life. Within this concept there are opportunities for some pretty fun and dramatic moments. The music drama The High Note, which was released this week on Premium Video on Demand, takes this concept and uses it as a decent starting point. There is a lot of familiarity with the plot, although the cast gives the material its own unique twists and turns. The movie isn't crazy, but it's charming, entertaining, and easy to understand. As the latest high-profile film to skip the cinemas completely and premiere at home, it is likely to attract a large audience this weekend, possibly bigger than it otherwise would have been.

The film is a musical drama that revolves around Maggie (Dakota Johnson), assistant to superstar singer Grace Davis (Tracee Ellis Ross). Maggie has fallen in love with Grace for some years, running errands and the like, but has never received much respect from Grace's manager Jack Robertson (Ice Cube), or Grace's other collaborators like Gail (June Diane Raphael). Maggie has always secretly dreamed of becoming a producer, and when Grace and Jack begin to differ in the next phase of their decades of career, Maggie sees a chance to make a big step. At the same time, she met David Cliff (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), an unknown but very talented singer/songwriter who wants to produce and at the same time balance a real attraction. Expect true Hollywood fashion for everyone's lives to change when the credits come. Nisha Ganatra is directing a screenplay by Flora Greeson. Amie Doherty composes the score, while the camera is from Jason McCormick. The rest of the cast consists of Deniz Akdeniz, Zoe Chao, Eddie Izzard, Bill Pullman, and others.

A trio of loud performances paired with catchy music makes the difference here. Dakota Johnson takes on a fairly simple role and invests life in it. Kelvin Harrison Jr. has never been so charming, while Tracee Ellis Ross enjoys playing the star singer who is driven by ego and talent. They are the highlight, although Ice Cube and June Diane Raphael also have very nice support twists to help with it. They all add quirks to a story that's not too appealing on the surface. Fortunately, they do, and when the original music is mixed throughout the film, it gets pretty lively.

The high grade is best when it doesn't try to add an extra drama to the story. You will see the moments of surprise come, and most of them barely slow down more than a film that is already too long. Director Nisha Ganatra and writer Flora Greeson make a good contribution, but it is the cast and interaction of the actors that makes this a success. The director and the screenplay rarely draw attention to themselves. It is the music and the performances that they make, as mentioned above.

On Friday, viewers looking for a movie with some drama, some romance, and very solid music will have a high-quality option to consider in The High Note. We had to take into account the lack of new Hollywood films. Even if there is never anything particularly surprising, excusing the pun will hit most of the correct notes. Take a look (especially if you like someone from the cast) and you'll likely agree ...