Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll … !

Do you remember, back in January, I told you about the rite de passage movie that was The Boat That Rocked?

The Richard Curtis penned filmed, loosely based on the story of Radio Caroline, was and is a wonderfully up-beat film that had those of us watching it, that night, laughing outright.

Tonight’s film didn’t …

Tonight’s film — the independently produced and funded biopic of Ian Dury, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll — was an altogether different kettle of musical fish.

Very different, actually.

Because, for a start, it’s a very decent attempt* to tell the story of the life of Blockheads frontman, disability campaignerº, actor and poet, Ian Dury.

Very decent: after all, how on earth are you supposed to sum up the life of one of Britain’s most fluent songwriters and performers … ?

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll does it by getting Dury himself to tell it, from a stage.

You notice I said ‘Dury’?

When I could well have said Andy Serkis, as Ian Dury … ?

I think that’s possibly the correct way to do it.

Now, I personally think that Andy Serkis should have got at least an Oscar nomination for his work as Gollum, in Peter Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, as — given the way the films were made — it would have been impossible to show Gollum without his contribution.

And I’m thinking it would be a shame if Serkis doesn’t get one for his convincing portrayal of one of British music’s most inspiring figures.

•••••

Now, I could tell you all about the plot for Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

I could.

I’m not.

In part, because, as you well know by now, other people do that a lot better than I.

But mostly … ?

Mostly because I think you should see this film.

If nothing else, for Serkis’ frighteningly good stage performances as the late great Ian Dury.

So good that — according to one comment on IMDb, about the film — he’s been asked to tour … with The Blockheads, themselves … !

How the hell do you argue with that … ?

* I’m going on the fact that I read Dury biography — also called Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll — many years ago. Fascinating stuff.

º The film also features, in various flashback forms, various events from Dury’s life in of the schools for the disabled that were run during the 1950s: and a nightmare performance of Spasticus Autisticus …