Directed by Robert Townsend, The Five Heartbeats is a musical drama featuring an all-black cast. This culture classic stars Robert Townsend, Leon, Michael Wright, Diahann Carroll, Harry Lennox, and Harold Nicholas. The Five Heartbeats is a pseudo-biopic movie about a male r&b group formed in the 1960’s and their career throughout the subsequent decades. The movie goes through how the members met and formed the group, their rise and challenges throughout the decades, and their inevitable downfall. This movie is not based upon The Temptations. The fictional Five Heartbeats group is a hodgepodge of ‘60’s era singers such as The Dells, The Temptations, Four Tops, and Frankie Lymon.
Michael Wright as Eddie King Jr. aka Eddie Kang Jr. was the epitome of David Ruffin and Bobby Brown. Robert Townsend as Duck was the backbone of the group. Leon played the ladies man J.T. and the brother of Duck. Tico Wells plays Choirboy who grows into his status. Hawthorne James plays Big Red who has office hours only from 9 – 5. Please do not try to conduct business with him outside of those hours. The fictitious groups Bird and the Midnight Falcons and Flash and the Ebony Sparks provide competition for The Five Heartbeats throughout the movie.
What makes this movie great along with the acting is the soundtrack. Virgin Records released the soundtrack and it featured hits such as Nothing but Love, A Heart Is a House for Love, Nights Like This, and Baby Stop Running Around. While watching this movie, you forget the group doesn’t actually exist and believe the movie is a true biopic. This is because of the great acting and the storyline which has similarities to the successes and tragedies of actual black groups of that era. The on-stage scenes are comically realistic. In addition to the relationships with each other, the movie shows their struggle for equality with their music. As one character states, “cross-over is a double cross” and “black people were never on Elvis album covers”.
Many movies featuring an all-black cast are simply not appreciated for their true worth. The Five Heartbeats is one of those films. As a viewer, in particular as a black viewer, you can relate to these characters. You laugh with them and can feel their anger and frustration. You also root for them as a group and individually. For example, when Duck stood up and started clapping in church, I was right there with him. This movie is a classic and it is timeless. The Five Heartbeats is a movie for the culture.