Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

[Ms Thrifty]

To add my two pennyworth, in my case, it wasn't that I didn't bother to see this film or couldn't get there due to the snow but that, once again, there was no preview near me. I was considering p*ying to see it (and haven't yet decided either way) but was just struck by Spanner's review, which seemed not only to sum up the film itself but to put in a nutshell the common couple's dilemma about films which really appeal to one of the pair and barely to the other. Marmite is another excellent example of this divide!

[moondance]

Maybe the manic graphics

The graphics are by Peter Blake

I enjoyed it although I agree that the storyline was not that deep it still held my interest and was very well acted.

[bevvy]

Maybe the manic graphics

The graphics are by Peter Blake

I enjoyed it although I agree that the storyline was not that deep it still held my interest and was very well acted.

One thing that I would like to have seen was something about his time at art college where he was taught by Peter Blake. Apart from the paintings on the walls, (and of course, the Peter Blake graphics ) there seemed to be no reference to this period of his life.

OH and I thoroughly enjoyed this film. But then I was once the proud owner of 2 cats named Boots and Panties after Ian Dury's album of the same name!

I liked the fact that he came over as none too pleasant - too many biopics make out their subjects to be saints. And after all, it is hardly surprising he was such a 'difficult' person after what he went through in childhood.

I scored this one 9/10

[anakin]

I was once the proud owner of 2 cats named Boots and Panties

Did you have to call them in a lot? Must have got some puzzled looks!

[kevinknapman]

Maybe the manic graphics

The graphics are by Peter Blake

quote]


One thing that I would like to have seen was something about his time at art college where he was taught by Peter Blake. Apart from the paintings on the walls, (and of course, the Peter Blake graphics ) there seemed to be no reference to this time.
OH and I thoroughly enjoyed this film. But then I was once the proud owner of 2 cats named Boots and Panties after Ian Dury's album of the same name!

I liked the fact that he came over as none too pleasant - too many biopics make out their subjects to be saints. And after all, it is hardly surprising he was such a 'difficult' person after what he went through in childhood.

I scored this one 9/10

The problem with a lot of biopics is what to show and what to leave out. You can't keep everything in sadly. Even the interesting stuff. I think getting Peter Blake to do the graphics was a way of making the connection without necessarily showing it.
I liked the fact that they got Chaz Jankel to do the original music instead of hiring another composer.

[bevvy]

I was once the proud owner of 2 cats named Boots and Panties

Did you have to call them in a lot? Must have got some puzzled looks!

The two cats ended up living at my mum's house after I moved to a flat. She refused to call Panties by his proper name and changed it to Pandy!

[Beate]

As usual, Matt Turner says it all:

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/films/sex-- ... ewsletters

The ViewLondon Review

Review by Matthew Turner
06/01/2010
Opens Friday 08 January 2010

Three out of Five stars
Running time: 113 mins

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll features a terrific soundtrack, a fascinating central character and a sensational performance from Andy Serkis, but the direction is all over the place and the film is ultimately let down by a messy, scattershot screenplay that struggles to find the right tone.

What's it all about?
Directed by Mat Whitecross, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll is a British biopic based on the life of singer-songwriter Ian Dury (of Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick fame), who suffered with polio all his life and whose charismatic, offbeat stage persona and lyrical prowess led to him becoming a hugely influential figure in the punk and New Wave era.

Using a Blockheads gig as a rough-edged framing device, the film takes a scattershot approach to Dury's life, moving back and forth between his sickly childhood (newcomer Wesley Nelson plays the young Ian), his early career, fame and relative fortune and his relationships with his son, Baxter (Bill Milner), his father (Ray Winstone) and the women in his life, including long-suffering first wife Betty (Olivia Williams) and girlfriend Denise (Naomie Harris).

The Good
First things first: Serkis delivers a sensational performance that not only captures Dury's voice, physicality and singing style but also doesn't shy away from the fact that he could be a bit annoying at times. There's also terrific support from Williams, Harris and young Bill Milner, while Winstone makes a memorable impression in his brief appearance as Ian's father.

The Bad
Unfortunately, the film is not without flaws and is frequently frustrating. For one thing, Dury is a genuinely fascinating, complex character and yet the screenplay barely scratches the surface - aside from the polio, we get very little insight into Dury's character and even less about his musical background and influences (something that doesn't compare favourably with a seemingly throwaway scene in Nowhere Boy that shows a grinning young Lennon listening to The Goons).

On top of that, the script's framing device and scattershot approach mean that you're constantly leaping from one period in Dury's life to the next and back again, to the point where you long for a more linear approach or just for the film to pick a period and stick with it.

Worth seeing?
This is worth seeing for Serkis' terrific central performance, but the structure is frustrating and you can't help feeling that a more traditional approach might have served the story better.

[anakin]

I was once the proud owner of 2 cats named Boots and Panties

Did you have to call them in a lot? Must have got some puzzled looks!

The two cats ended up living at my mum's house after I moved to a flat. She refused to call Panties by his proper name and changed it to Pandy!

Haha! Can't blame her really!

[bevvy]

Coincidentally, my daughter has inherited a cat from a friend and his name is Pants! Unlike my mum, she has no intention of changing it.

[cagne]

I didn't make it to the screening due to a broken down car blocking the road on my way and the owner refusing to move it until someone arrived to help because of the ice. Gutted.