Coming to virtual cinemas tomorrow, Wednesday, September 2:
CHUCK BERRY: THE ORIGINAL KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL
Director:
Jon Brewer
World Premiere:
Nashville 2019
About:
A tribute to the musical pioneer.
Billed as the first feature-length documentary about the rock ‘n’ roll legend, Jon Brewer’s film is ultimately a fairly conventional musical biography, if not outright hagiography, that feels more appropriate for VH1’s BEHIND THE MUSIC series than on film screens. Gathering family, friends, and admirers, Brewer provides a talking heads-heavy recounting of the musician’s life and career. Attempts to liven up the proceedings through unnecessary (and weirdly colorized) re-enactments add nothing but extra padding when the film instead would have benefitted much more from additional performance sequences, which are strangely limited.
what (not) to doc 