For every Hard Day's Night, there's a Give My Regards To Broad Street. The invigorating patter of Purple Rain can quickly disappear Under The Cherry Moon. Used in the same sentence, the terms "All Saints" and "Honest" are considered blasphemy.

When successful pop acts decide to take a crack at the movies, the results should always be approached with care. Do they actually have a story to tell or are we to endure some grisly ego trip?

Outkast fans will be pleased to hear that Idlewild tends to the former, though it gradually sinks under the dead weight of writer-director Bryan Barber's all-too-familiar characters and predictable plot.

That said, having worked with the musically versatile duo on their videos for 'The Way You Move', 'Roses' and the MTV-awarded 'Hey Ya!', Barber shows he's not afraid of a stylistic flourish in this, his energetic feature debut.

The intro takes us back to pre-Depression era Georgia, where undertaker's kid Percival befriends young renegade Rooster. By the time they have grow up, Prohibition is in full swing.

But then so is The Church, an all-singing, all-dancing den of iniquity where Percival (André) takes a break from prettifying corpses to play piano while the womanising Rooster (Big Boi) plays right-hand man to sweaty club owner, Sunshine Ace (Faison Love).

Ace's place runs on the moonshine provided by local gangsters Spats (Rhames) and Trumpy (Terrence Howard). When business turns sour, Rooster is left to deal with the ruthless Trumpy to make sure that the show goes on.

Meanwhile, mild-mannered Percival has somehow caught the eye of the club's glamorous new singer Angel (newcomer Paula Patton - not the most prodigious acting talent, but talk about SpottieOttieDopalicious...).

The romance and violence are competently staged but it's by-the-numbers stuff, save for Barber's surreal chorus of animated music notes, cuckoo clocks and squawking hip flasks.

But just when it looks like adding up to more than the sum of its parts, Barber stretches the final act to the audience's breaking point. It feels like one of those extended remixes that nobody wants to sit through.

Performance-wise, Big Boi acquits himself well, with professional back-up from Love, Rhames, Howard and, in a small role, Macy Gray. As for André - his pop act may be in Idlewild but his character's straight outta Dullsville.

Elliott Noble