i’m not usually a purist, but, damn it, cadillac records (just watched) is graceless.  particularly beyoncé’s cover of etta james’s ‘at last’.  the film offers enjoyable performances by jeffery wright and mos def, legitimately two of our finest actors despite anemic roles here, but, on the whole, it only pretends to pay tribute to the sublime work of the amazing artists it profiles, swapping out the originals for unconvincing covers, almost all of them sung, coincidentally, by the film’s ep.