BEAUTY'S SKIN DEEP IN `IDLEWILD'.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Critic

The OutKast guys, Andre ``Andre 3000'' Benjamin and Antwan ``Big Boi''

Patton, don't do anything simple, and their big movie musical ``Idlewild'' sure sticks to that plan.

It's an elaborate period fantasy, set in the mythical title Georgia town, that fuses hip-hop sensibility with high 1930s style in a manner miles beyond the imagination displayed by most rappers who make movies. Written and directed by Bryan Barber, who made the duo's ``Hey Ya!'' and other videos, it bubbles over with eclectic artistic and aural choices. And the dancing is spectacular.

As a movie, though, ``Idle-wild'' is kind of a mess. The wide range of sensibilities don't always mesh, emotional notes (and a surprising number of musical ones) often fall flat, and some music-vid-style production numbers disrupt what little narrative drive Barber gets going. And while Benjamin and Patton deserve praise for avoiding the autobiographical self-indulgence that many rappers think makes a great movie, references to their own ``Speakerboxxx'' album and other contemporary nods just don't sound right in the rural Depression South.

A South, as indicated above, that is pretty much a glam fantasy.

Idlewild is a prosperous, almost exclusively African-American town that is utterly free of white oppression. The movie's action revolves around a Harlem-quality nightclub called Church, which is stocked to the rafters with world-class chorus girls, a clientele with even better dancing chops, the finest moonshine available and any other vice one would wish to indulge.

And, of course, nattily dressed gangsters are all over the place.

Patton's Rooster, the stage show headliner, inherits management of Church -- and its mobland debts -- after a few rub-outs go down. His childhood friend Percival (Benjamin), a shy mortician's son, plays piano at the joint and composes his own songs. The great Terrence Howard steals every scene he's in as the worst of the criminals, Trumpy. And gorgeous newcomer Paula Patton dazzles patrons and Percival alike as Angel, a singing star who's come to Idlewild bearing a big secret.

Rooster's an operator (he's got five young daughters, a beautiful wife and an uncertain number of mistresses). Percival's a sensitive soul whose desire to move on to the musical big time is blocked by loyalty to his widowed, domineering father (Ben Vereen, wasted). The two men's friendship is never effectively established, however, and Rooster's increasing conflict with Trumpy follows a predictable path.

So does the Percival-Angel romance, but the actors succeed in making it come alive. What can essentially be called guest appearances by the likes of Ving Rhames, Cicely Tyson, Patti LaBelle and others rarely add up to much.

Barber employs all kinds of tricky devices -- different film speeds, computer effects montages, even an animated whiskey flask -- to keep things lively, but they mostly come off as distractions. In keeping with the rap/r&b/swing combination soundtrack, choreographer Hinton Battle mainly employs an impressive jitterbug/break-dance mash-up, but he also stages period-perfect hoochie numbers and a geometric Busby Berkeley mind-blower or two. The costumes are to die for (and a lot of characters do die, dressed ever so elegantly).

I'm still trying to figure out what all of the cuckoo clocks were about, though. On the other hand, while some will surely find the mortuary scenes creepy, I thought they added a nice gothic touch. By the end of ``Idlewild,'' some ironic thematic twists come nicely into play, but they're not enough to rescue a scenario that's been both too predictable and too weird for much too long.

But at least it ain't the same old new jack.

Bob Strass, [phone]

bob.strauss(at)dailynews.com

IDLEWILD - Two and one half stars

(R: violence, sex, nudity, language, drug use)

Starring: Andre Benjamin, Antwan A. Patton, Paula Patton, Terrence Howard, Malinda Williams.

Director: Bryan Barber.

Running time: 2 hr. 1 min.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: Ambitious 1930s musical drama starring the OutKast duo has wonderful production values and a meandering, uninvolving story line that isn't helped by jarring, music-video-like production numbers.