Directed by Nisha Ganatra
Written by Flora Greeson
Starring Tracee Ellis Ross, Dakota Johnson, Ice Cube, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., June Diane Raphael, and Bill Pullman
MPA rating: PG-13
Running time: 1 hour 53 minutes

by Jaime Davis, The Fixer

Sometimes I sit around and wonder why Tracee Ellis Ross isn’t a bigger star than she already is. I mean, come on…she’s bubbly, glamorous, funny, and insanely intelligent. I’ve also been in the same room with her twice, which I think only serves to heighten my appreciation for her. How and why I found myself breathing the same air as her would be a long, boring-ass story nobody has time for about my time working in Hollywood as a lowly production staffer. But let me just say…she had me star struck both times.

Which is why I’ve been following her career so closely for the past 20 years and why I watch Black-ish so much (besides it being so well-written, smart, and finely-acted, Ross is perfect as Rainbow Johnson). To me, Ross just shines - in her performances, geeking out on her Insta, being vulnerable and honest with Oprah, on the red carpet. She’s one of those performers who simply brings me joy, much in the same way an episode of Sex and the City does, or a scoop of Ben & Jerry’s. I realize these last two things make me sound a little basic, and that’s probably a correct assumption, but I like what I like and I choose my choice and I am who I am, etc. So you can imagine when I first saw the trailer for The High Note, where Ross plays a mega-huge, amazing fabulous musician (à la Ross’ mom in real life, Diana Ross), I freaked out like a 2020 teen who’s just seen BTS outside on the street.

About 18 years ago, when I saw Tracee Ellis Ross twice (TWICE!), I was living in LA and working in the entertainment industry. Like a lot of Hollywood hopefuls, I had aspirations and dreams of what I could and would accomplish. The loftier, crazier goals like becoming the next David Mamet? Nah, I never achieved those. But some smaller, wonderful things came out of my experience - I made some great friends, ate more delicious avocados than I ever had up until that point, lived walking distance from the famous original Bob’s Big Boy, and learned how strong I am as a person. And while my movie-making dreams diminished a bit after my two years in LA, one of our main heroines in The High Note, Maggie (Dakota Johnson), is holding tight and fast to hers. As personal assistant to Tracee Ellis Ross’ fantastically fabulous megawatt Grace Davis, Maggie is hoping to use her current gig as a stepping stone to becoming a music producer. Grace is at a bit of a crossroads in her career on the cusp of releasing a live album; now in her 40’s, her last release under-performed, making her nervous about her career moving forward. Maggie has taken it upon herself to secretly produce a cut of her forthcoming live album, unbeknownst to Grace and her wily manager, Jack (a somewhat overprotective, surly Ice Cube). When it gets out about Maggie’s secret ambitions, Jack and Grace are quick to remind Maggie what her real job is and promptly put her in her place. Deterred at first, Maggie instead decides to find up-and-coming talent to produce, and happens upon soul singer David performing outside the Laurel Canyon Country Store. As she dives deeper into a partnership with David, straddling both professional and personal, her job as Grace’s assistant becomes compromised in more ways than one. Can Maggie juggle it all and keep her boss satisfied while pursuing her dream? What will happen between her and David?

It’s a bit of a syrupy plot setup for sure, and I must admit I went into The High Note with somewhat diminished expectations. Despite this, Flora Greeson’s script feels breezy, smart, fun, nuanced, and does so much with a plot that could have easily devolved into Hallmark movie-levels of oversimplification. The witty back and forth between Grace and Maggie is delightful while the characters feel fully developed. Grace isn’t just a diva - having come from little, she now has more than everything complete with a range of behaviors and emotions - just like a real human. She’s demanding, emotional, hard, yet soft. You can tell she cares about Maggie but there are times when she battles whether to be a friend or a hard-ass boss. Maggie, on the other hand, isn’t just another white girl drawn to the black and brown performers she’s nurturing (or trying to). She isn’t trying to commodify them - she really just loves the music and the talent. Having grown up with a radio DJ dad and a singer mom, she’s been immersed in music since birth. Greeson doesn’t cut any corners with her music research - she really knows her stuff and infuses that knowledge into the dialogue and story. There’s a really fun moment where Maggie and Grace are driving with the top down, listening to TLC’s Waterfalls, and Maggie, a true music nerd, throws out a little fun fact about the song’s producer. Another equally winning moment in the script involves a meeting Grace has with Jack and her label’s brass, who all push her towards a residency at Caesar’s in Las Vegas. Grace is hesitant, preferring to do a new album. It’s a stand-out scene thanks in part to Greeson’s writing and Ross’ delicate facial expressions depicting how truly soul-sucky the intersection of business and art can be.

While Greeson’s script provides a solid foundation for our actors to work with, director Nisha Ganatra brings it all to life in the most believable of ways, even if our backdrop is the glossy sheen of Hollywood. The cinematography is gorgeousssssss, and not just because it’s LA and LA is lovely to look at. The film is painted with golden hues - everything and everyone looks sun-kissed and bronze-y and lovely. The cast is great, though I find Ice Cube so generally likeable that I hated seeing him in a somewhat unlikable role. There’s also some inspired casting, with Diplo (as an EDM producer totally not unlike himself) and Eddie Izzard popping up in minor roles. But it’s the believability of the whole set-up that works the most for me. It can be way more difficult buying into a film depicting industries of cool, like music or fashion or art. But Ganatra makes it all feel so true to life - I really accepted that Ross was a super huge star, and bought in to the film’s overall painting of the music industry in general. And I even liked Dakota Johnson as Maggie - she never particularly stood out to me in the Fifty Shades trilogy or that Suspiria remake, but she won me over in this. Both Johnson and Ross do great work of layering their characters with an army of human emotions.

While The High Note is a story of two vastly different women finding their power wrapped up with a little romance for good measure, it’s utlimately for anyone who loves music. My fiancée, fellow MJer Ashley Jane, is a lot like Maggie. She’s a talented musician, producer, and serious music geek - watching The High Note with her was almost surreal. She’s quick to reveal musical trivia at the drop of a hat, enjoys critiquing the musical instruments that show up in movies and tv shows, and can tell pretty quickly if an actor is actually playing an instrument or not. Her favorite song, Donny Hathaway’s cover of Jealous Guy (live at the Bitter End) is even in the soundtrack to this film. At one point, I looked at her suspiciously and asked, “Did you secretly write this?” Watching The High Note is like having a music discussion with my fiancée - you learn a buncha random musical fun facts you never thought you would and have so much fun doing it. It’s also a thoroughly glamorous, entertaining distraction from what’s happening in the world right now. Watching The High Note put a high note on my week for sure, and may do the same for you. And hopefully it makes Tracee Ellis Ross even more famous than she already is.