This film had so much going for it but dragged itself aimlessly and uninsightfully across the rocks, overselling every 'joke' and every detail till they felt flat and uninspired.
If you have to spell out how clever something is, you're either telling it badly or it wasn't that clever.
The guys are undoubtedly clever, funny and talented, but this telling of their story isn't.
Appropriating the brilliant Brothers McLeod animation style from their classic Bowie, Eno and Visconti clip seemed forced and unoriginal. Ie it had already been done wonderfully for another artist, and highlighted how Sparks never got asked about what influenced them much at all. They're original, everyone else follows them? Um, Bowie???
For all the 'getting musical friends of Eager Wrights to spout lyrically about the utter importance and influence of Sparks' we don't see a lot of falsetto singing glamming it up from the influencees. It came across as a puff piece and glib lip service. Sparks could just be what they are, an original diamond that maintained it's own course but instead we're sold a story that Wright wanted to tell.
Some bits felt awkwardly staged. The ending where the guys roll off fake facts about themselves for 'comic' effect felt at odds with the identity and character of them, as did the whispering to camera the "I'm the important part of Sparks, he's just the keyboardist/singer" bit. It reeked of Wright saying 'hey read this, it'll be hilarious', and then neglecting to leave it on the cutting room floor when it obviously showed itself as a BAD idea. That's one of the main problems here. Over 2 hours of length, and a lack of filtering.
This happened a few times through the film and really eroded the honesty of the project. I sincerely wanted to just enjoy the Brothers for who they were and hear their actual story, not this manipulated A-lister director's take on it.
It's great that he likes them enough to make a film about them, but is it really about them or him?
Not everything they did was genius and that's absolutely fine in a career this long. Those 80s albums and styles were dull. The ex drummer shedding tears over their 6 year dry spell was just bizarre, can't they have writers block or lose their way? Is it not ok to be off some times? Cos they most certainly came back from it. That would count as character development, a journey, a destination. You know,..... what this film lacked.
What about their early family life that made them who they are. They were ok to talk about it and the film is dedicated to their parents, but apparently it wasn't interesting enough to dig into. What made them who they are? We won't find out from this one and only shot at looking into the group.
This could have been so much better. This should have been so much better. Half ar$ed.
If you have to spell out how clever something is, you're either telling it badly or it wasn't that clever.
The guys are undoubtedly clever, funny and talented, but this telling of their story isn't.
Appropriating the brilliant Brothers McLeod animation style from their classic Bowie, Eno and Visconti clip seemed forced and unoriginal. Ie it had already been done wonderfully for another artist, and highlighted how Sparks never got asked about what influenced them much at all. They're original, everyone else follows them? Um, Bowie???
For all the 'getting musical friends of Eager Wrights to spout lyrically about the utter importance and influence of Sparks' we don't see a lot of falsetto singing glamming it up from the influencees. It came across as a puff piece and glib lip service. Sparks could just be what they are, an original diamond that maintained it's own course but instead we're sold a story that Wright wanted to tell.
Some bits felt awkwardly staged. The ending where the guys roll off fake facts about themselves for 'comic' effect felt at odds with the identity and character of them, as did the whispering to camera the "I'm the important part of Sparks, he's just the keyboardist/singer" bit. It reeked of Wright saying 'hey read this, it'll be hilarious', and then neglecting to leave it on the cutting room floor when it obviously showed itself as a BAD idea. That's one of the main problems here. Over 2 hours of length, and a lack of filtering.
This happened a few times through the film and really eroded the honesty of the project. I sincerely wanted to just enjoy the Brothers for who they were and hear their actual story, not this manipulated A-lister director's take on it.
It's great that he likes them enough to make a film about them, but is it really about them or him?
Not everything they did was genius and that's absolutely fine in a career this long. Those 80s albums and styles were dull. The ex drummer shedding tears over their 6 year dry spell was just bizarre, can't they have writers block or lose their way? Is it not ok to be off some times? Cos they most certainly came back from it. That would count as character development, a journey, a destination. You know,..... what this film lacked.
What about their early family life that made them who they are. They were ok to talk about it and the film is dedicated to their parents, but apparently it wasn't interesting enough to dig into. What made them who they are? We won't find out from this one and only shot at looking into the group.
This could have been so much better. This should have been so much better. Half ar$ed.