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 …
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