Jagged (2021) User Reviews

Inspiring at times but needs depth and cohesion

[savageneedles · 6/10 · 4 December 2021]

Isn't it ironic? This documentary only very superficially delved into Alanis Morissette, the person, but it was apparently "too salacious" for Alanis. I would like to have learned more about what makes Alanis the person who was able to create such wonderful music.

I had just finished watching the Anthony Bourdain documentary, Roadrunner. We got real insight into Anthony the person in that film, to learn about his beauty and his flaws, not about how great his TV shows were.

With Jagged, we got a film whose thesis is "Alanis set the world on fire with Jagged Little Pill and opened the door for women in rock." An inspiring message about someone who started on the wrong track (a Tiffany and Debbie Gibson wannabe) but was determined to find her own voice rather than what sleazy showbiz promoters of the moment needed her to be. There are similarly inspiring feminist messages throughout, but to some to some extent this film comes across like one of those DVD "extra" promo reels.

It just seemed to lack substance and purpose.

Rollicking look back at Alanis' breakthrough album and tour

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 22 November 2021]

As "Jagged" (2021 release; 97 min.) opens, Alanis and her band are in their dressing room, moments before going onstage at another gig on the "Jagged Little Pill" tour. We then go to Alanis today, as she gets situated for being interviewed by the director, and Alanis starts talking about her upbringing in Ontario, Canada and how she became a Debbie Gibson-reminding pop star at age 15, only to abandon it all and restart in Los Angeles at age 19...

Couple of comments: this is the latest from up-and-coming but already well respected documentary director Alison Klayman ("The Brink"). Here she looks back at how Alanis reinvented herself from scratch for the "Jagged Little Pill" album. Alanis talks openly about being raped at age 15 in Canada (it's called "statutory rape", she says). Her musical partnership with producer Glen Ballard gets plenty of coverage. The film includes many other talking heads, such as Shirly Manson (Garbage), Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters, but he was the drummer on the Jagged tour) and others. There is plenty of concert footage of course. It's hard to believe that it's been 25 years ago. I all found it quite rollicking as a documentary. Alanis, who gave full cooperation during the filming, has now openly disavowed the film for being "reductive" and "salacious". Say what? Did Alanis and I watch the same documentary? I'm thinking this is just Alanis being Alanis.

"Jagged" opened this weekend on HBO as part of the "Music Box" documentary series. It is now available on HBO On Demand and on HBO Max (where I saw it), and eventually on other streaming platforms and DVD/Blu-ray. If you loved "Jagged Little Pill" and all that it stood for (and who doesn't?), I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Enjoyable but... I kinda didn't buy what they were selling here.

[MyMovieTVRomance · 8/10 · 16 December 2021]

I really enjoyed this documentary- even though there were some things about its narrative that irked me- like the way it presents Alanis like some anomaly who was ahead of her time in the mid-1990s, when this was the time of Grunge and bands like Hole and people like PJ Harvey- and among them, she fit right in, except to anyone who wants to split hairs about it. So, that point the doc kept trying to make felt completely disingenuous, as did the point it tried to make about how no major or minor record label wanted her- all rejecting Jagged Little Pill originally. The first thing I thought when hearing that was here we go again- this is a repeat of what Joan Jett said happened with her- only, in that case, it feels more true.

I kinda didn't buy what they were selling here. First off, to call "Jagged" the best selling debut album by a female artist sounds good to say, BUT it wasn't really her debut, since she had made a few albums before that in her native Canada. So again, the point felt disingenuous. And another thing- there is no way Jagged Little Pill was a hard sale in the era of Grunge and Riot Grrrl. No way! Yeah, I'm sure she got rejected BEFORE people actually heard the music- but that is often true for anyone trying to make a hit- people can be reluctant to try anything new- including new music. But after hearing the music, they liked it, and that's what counts. After all, she did end up on Madonna's boutique label, so it was a little irksome that they kept painting her as a truly struggling artist in those years- because she wasn't- it's just the nature of the business.

There was nothing really unusual about Alanis, except for the fact that her level of fame eclipsed all the others due to how catchy her songs were and songwriting was. That said, she was and is a true talent who I am glad to learn more about. This documentary is well-made and kept me entertained and invested, even if I didn't quite agree with a lot of the points made in it.

Jagged little gem

[thefearlessdave · 10/10 · 23 November 2021]

I'm not sure what these other reviewers were smoking, but Jagged was great. There. I said it.

I was 18 when I first heard Alanis play on the radio, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I'm 45 now.

This nostalgic trip back to when music was music, when artist still experimented, when life was care free, Apartheid had just ended, and we were all brimming with hope for a future - made me reminisce on how great it was to be alive.

Artists were artists - today, we have studio groomed performers singing unfeeling songs created from dead templates that corporations mass feed to the public.

Everyone is encouraged to be unique as long as everyone is the same.

If there was no Alanis, there wouldn't be an Adele, a Joan Osborne, a Tracy Bonham, etc. She revolutionised the male dominated industry by giving it a massive middle finger.

I remember how she popped out of nowhere. I recall the rumours - from her being a former adult movie actress to men that wrote the songs for her.

This vid corrects everything and sets the past straight.

Her voice was unique, her stage presence persona was unfake, her music is timeless and her personality real... and if you didn't like it, then go listen to Jim Reeves, you pretentious tonsil. Every major female artist today have traits copied from the original.

The previous generation was one of strength.

Gen X was one without fear - like Alanis.

And this show reminds you of that.

One of the best

[inacan-90-894261 · 10/10 · 29 May 2022]

Fascinating look at her origins, the issues she dealt with as a female artist in a male dominated commercial industry and her thoughts regarding it. Her music still stands up and I can't wait for her to get her due properly.

Great Documentary about Alanis Morissette

[dragononwall · 9/10 · 20 November 2021]

I always liked her music (well.. maybe not the earlier stuff).

Wow, how often I had her in my headphones chilling on beaches in South East 90th Asia.

Such a talent and beauty, had a crush on her for 30 years.. The way she sing her texts, it's like it doesn't matter if it's rhymes in songs lyrics or not, she just fix it with her voice (like Bob D)!

Easy 9/10.

Sorry for bad English, I'm a viking.

A must watch for pop music lovers.

[johntaymac · 9/10 · 13 June 2022]

Despite a lifetime working in pop music, radio and TV, I was late in joining the Alanis Morissette fan club. Whilst being aware of her music, it was not until SUCH PRETTY FORKS IN THE ROAD in 2020 that I realised what an extraordinary talent she is. So, I went in to view Jagged with a lot of love for her music, but little knowledge of her history and pop musical roots. I found her story a total revelation and absolutely compelling. The lady is a genius and her ability to express feelings through her music is rare and wonderful. The documentary is powerful and like Alanis's music it is absorbing. A must watch.

Isn't it ironic?

[somethingreal81 · 5/10 · 22 November 2021]

For all the controversy about Alanis being unhappy with the film and finding it "salacious," it's actually pretty dull. After the Woodstock '99 documentary, which was informative, entertaining, and did a great job contextualizing the events depicted, I had much higher hopes for this. Unfortunately, it's less of a documentary and more of a retrospective without a whole lot to say. The music is still great, though.

Great doc.

[yk-763-314893 · 10/10 · 4 December 2021]

Bought this album without knowing anything about it back in mid 90s. Became one of my favorite albums to this. If you love this album, you'll love the doc.

Good but could have gone deeper

[Stephanie4040 · 8/10 · 29 November 2021]

Great doco, and nothing salacious about it. Could have gone much deeper but still worth a watch. No doubt there will be loads of blokes saying it's boring because it wasn't salacious enough - so watch it for feminism's sake ;-)

Not what Alanis signed up for!

[chrisgabe67 · 8/10 · 7 December 2023]

It started off so well then the #metoo movement high jacked it (which Alanis didn't sign up for) and it turned quickly into a how bad men are in the industry. Myself as a male in the nineties absolutely loved the album and still listen to it a lot to this day! She paved the way for women (and men) to make these kind of songs. She is, and always will be a trailblazer and unbelievably great addition to the music industry. She was exactly what was needed after the Nirvana grunge era and Taylor Hawkins going to the Foo Fighters just proves it. She's the type of person that you would love to have a drink & a discussion about music with.

Woow really good to hear the story of Alanis with so many details!

[antistarbulgaria · 10/10 · 23 November 2021]

Alanis, much love from BULGARIA, i am a big fan and grow up with your songs, my first contact with the Interner i remember in 1996 was looking for you photos in netscape navigator, this movie got me really nostalgic, really happy to see your story from bag in the day till now and i am glad that you have saved yoursel and that you are still alive, a tru living legend. Many thanks for your work, and greetings to the crew that made this film possible. Love!

Jagged (2021, Alison Klayman) Nice reminiscence when Alanis took the world and a decade by storm.

[hoernkeem · 3 January 2022]

'Jagged' is a 2021 documentary from HBO and their Music Box series of films. It is directed by Alison Klayman and focuses on the meteoric rise in the mid 90's of Canadian female singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette off the success of her insanely popular Jagged Little Pill album. As a 90's teen Alanis and Jagged Little Pill were among my favorite things in that decade. She bucked a lot of trends even among the cadre of Lilith Fair females that were making music at that time. I feel a lot of modern music artists from Taylor Swift to Adele to Cardi B and more make a lot of money off of songs and albums that really delve their personal triumph and tragedy and I believe for many of those women Jagged Little Pill was a revelatory album that showed them the path of harnessing those thoughts, emotions and feelings into song. The documentary features candid interviews from Alanis herself as well as some key figures around her at the time including her bandmates and producer. It is notable that Morissette wound up divorcing herself from this documentary project saying she didn't agree with the vision the film maker had and she felt taken advantage of. I am unaware of what, specifically, in the movie she takes issue with as, for the most part, it is a pretty basic retelling of her rise to fame, the release of Pill and the subsequent tour. While a straighforward documentary Alanis' story is a good one and the doc hit my 90's nostalgia bone perfectly so I thoroughly enjoyed watching this while reminiscing on days gone by. It was great to revisit one of my favorite artists and albums of the 1990's.

Eric's Grade: B.

Disappointing

[dv-79930 · 4/10 · 15 December 2021]

Well, I like docs and I like Alanis, not huge fan, but she's cool. I though huh, if they decided to do a documentary about her in 2021, there must be an interesting reason for it. No. This was the most dull and boring documentary I've seen as far as I can remember. Why was this made???

Miserable Angry Victim

[Johnny_West · 1/10 · 26 November 2021]

30 years after she was relevant in any meaningful way, Alannis Morissette gets to complain some more about her life. Listen to all the things that she is angry about, what a sad victim she is, life was a horrible roller coaster for her. Every man abused her, and the women just let her down. Nothing has been good enough. Even success and millions of dollars has not helped.

Is this How Dogs Feel When a Dog Whistle Is Blown?

[bysterbusch · 4/10 · 8 December 2021]

I am not positive that Alanis was quite that popular, but I may not remember correctly. It was interesting to see the other musicians she was associated with but the shrieking was intolerable.