A rather by-the-numbers talking heads doc on cult classic band Sparks. Expect an endless parade of old band members, producers, fans-come-stalkers and celebrities with no discernable connection to the subject, because that's what you'll get: mixed up with music videos, archive of the band, generic 70s/80s stock footage, and about 3 minutes of animation.
It's a TV doc, basically, and a 2 hour one at that, so is therefore perfectly watchable while never moving beyond:
Look at this thing or this person, isn't it cool.
Talking head: "yeah this thing was really cool, all the guys thought it was cool" Talking head 2: "ah yeah, what a cool thing! It reminds me of a moment I had." Now look at this other thing that is also cool.
Talking head 26: "woah!"
Basically it's a puff-piece that looks like it was filmed in 3 days. There is no conflict, nothing happens, there is no "present" in the film to form a narrative around. The conflict is ostensibly that the brothers who claim not to care about fame are not as famous as they should be. They're famous, just not famous enough, because they influenced everybody. (Don't talk about the Bowie shaped hole! Don't talk about all the other holes, either!) This doesn't really fly, so the film kind of wetly flops between the band's many albums. Nothing that bad happens to them: in the most dramatic moment of the film (a drummer we never see again cries to the camera), Sparks go a few years without making an album.
We only begin to learn about the Sparks Brothers in the closing few minutes, and what we see raises questions I would have like answered.
These guys don't really have friends, right? At one point a "half-girlfriend" from the 70s is mentioned, Russell still seems a bit hung up on it. They're obsessive workaholics, or at least Ron is, I'm not sure what Russell does sitting in a studio all day if he's neither writing the music nor the lyrics. Ron who "definitely isn't gay" has moved from Charlie Chaplin to John Waters. Russell's wig looks prepostorous. And what about the film they wrote (Annette: now out, apparently "pretty good")? We heard more about films they tried to make that never came out.
But it's still Sparks, you know, so it's at the very least mildly entertaining with a few sparks (!) of genius. Something one is expected to like a lot but would rather have in small doses.
Final thought: the film poster is the wrong way round. Ron (who writes the music) uses his once-prettier, more sociable brother as a "face."
It's a TV doc, basically, and a 2 hour one at that, so is therefore perfectly watchable while never moving beyond:
Look at this thing or this person, isn't it cool.
Talking head: "yeah this thing was really cool, all the guys thought it was cool" Talking head 2: "ah yeah, what a cool thing! It reminds me of a moment I had." Now look at this other thing that is also cool.
Talking head 26: "woah!"
Basically it's a puff-piece that looks like it was filmed in 3 days. There is no conflict, nothing happens, there is no "present" in the film to form a narrative around. The conflict is ostensibly that the brothers who claim not to care about fame are not as famous as they should be. They're famous, just not famous enough, because they influenced everybody. (Don't talk about the Bowie shaped hole! Don't talk about all the other holes, either!) This doesn't really fly, so the film kind of wetly flops between the band's many albums. Nothing that bad happens to them: in the most dramatic moment of the film (a drummer we never see again cries to the camera), Sparks go a few years without making an album.
We only begin to learn about the Sparks Brothers in the closing few minutes, and what we see raises questions I would have like answered.
These guys don't really have friends, right? At one point a "half-girlfriend" from the 70s is mentioned, Russell still seems a bit hung up on it. They're obsessive workaholics, or at least Ron is, I'm not sure what Russell does sitting in a studio all day if he's neither writing the music nor the lyrics. Ron who "definitely isn't gay" has moved from Charlie Chaplin to John Waters. Russell's wig looks prepostorous. And what about the film they wrote (Annette: now out, apparently "pretty good")? We heard more about films they tried to make that never came out.
But it's still Sparks, you know, so it's at the very least mildly entertaining with a few sparks (!) of genius. Something one is expected to like a lot but would rather have in small doses.
Final thought: the film poster is the wrong way round. Ron (who writes the music) uses his once-prettier, more sociable brother as a "face."