Ignoring the fact that Dury was a teacher for a while, the film flits from has rise to fame, to his challenging upbringing.
It's not like any bio-pic i've seen in recent years, it has a little Todd Haynes-esquire scenes in the film, and the concert footage is really something else.
But it doesn't glamorise the fact that Dury was a star, it doesn't really delve into his money or the music he made, it focuses on the the struggles Dury had with his illness, and trying to bring his son up.
It's very interesting to see that the film-makers don't show Dury as a hero, they show him as a vulnerable child-like man, who cannot cope with the real world. Someone who wants to live life to the full because he probably feels his childhood was lost, so he makes up for it, and tries to get his son to have fun too.
A lot of issues are not elaborated on, which is a shame. The bullying of his son is never fully established, we just get a little revenge in the woods, and thats that, and there is also a scene where Dury is doing a Q&A at the school he attended, and a boy challenges hims about God, there is something there, but the makers ignore it.
But these are just minor flaws in an otherwise interesting film. Serkis is uncannily like Dury, and he is absolutely fantastic as the singer, showing rage and passion.
The rest of the cast are also good, but this is Serkis' movie, and he commands every scene he is in.
It's a very dark movie, sometimes psychedelic, sometimes disturbing, but the narrative flows well and for fans of the music and the man, it's a must.
It's not like any bio-pic i've seen in recent years, it has a little Todd Haynes-esquire scenes in the film, and the concert footage is really something else.
But it doesn't glamorise the fact that Dury was a star, it doesn't really delve into his money or the music he made, it focuses on the the struggles Dury had with his illness, and trying to bring his son up.
It's very interesting to see that the film-makers don't show Dury as a hero, they show him as a vulnerable child-like man, who cannot cope with the real world. Someone who wants to live life to the full because he probably feels his childhood was lost, so he makes up for it, and tries to get his son to have fun too.
A lot of issues are not elaborated on, which is a shame. The bullying of his son is never fully established, we just get a little revenge in the woods, and thats that, and there is also a scene where Dury is doing a Q&A at the school he attended, and a boy challenges hims about God, there is something there, but the makers ignore it.
But these are just minor flaws in an otherwise interesting film. Serkis is uncannily like Dury, and he is absolutely fantastic as the singer, showing rage and passion.
The rest of the cast are also good, but this is Serkis' movie, and he commands every scene he is in.
It's a very dark movie, sometimes psychedelic, sometimes disturbing, but the narrative flows well and for fans of the music and the man, it's a must.