For fans of Amy Winehouse, "Amy" is must-see. The story is already known, although the film provides many interesting details perhaps not widely seen in public media. To avoid spoilers, I will stick to vague strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths: > Good video and sound for the music parts - this is not somebody's iPhone video of a public performance > Chronology of story development - the film follows Amy's short life without jumping around in time > The obvious bias is that of a fan. Janis Joplin's biographers have not been nearly as kind. The performance sections in "Amy" are carefully chosen > No secret here: the pop music business and the pop media business have no humanity. They showed no mercy toward a fragile young woman who struck gold. This point was made clearly. The only improvement I can think of would be to get Keith Richards to comment on how the world loves to see its pop idols hounded - by police, by media, by fans, and by promoters
Weaknesses > Not enough music parts - the profound talent is displayed, but should have been put forth more often and for longer periods > The sensational drug and alcohol abuse drama overwhelms the film as it did the artist herself. That may have been the point, but if so, it was made heavy-handedly > Given the first two weaknesses, this film is just too long. I kept wishing they would get back to the concert and recording-session footage
The film is still a must-see for Amy Winehouse fans. Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of Amy Winehouse's jazz record with Tony Bennett.
Strengths: > Good video and sound for the music parts - this is not somebody's iPhone video of a public performance > Chronology of story development - the film follows Amy's short life without jumping around in time > The obvious bias is that of a fan. Janis Joplin's biographers have not been nearly as kind. The performance sections in "Amy" are carefully chosen > No secret here: the pop music business and the pop media business have no humanity. They showed no mercy toward a fragile young woman who struck gold. This point was made clearly. The only improvement I can think of would be to get Keith Richards to comment on how the world loves to see its pop idols hounded - by police, by media, by fans, and by promoters
Weaknesses > Not enough music parts - the profound talent is displayed, but should have been put forth more often and for longer periods > The sensational drug and alcohol abuse drama overwhelms the film as it did the artist herself. That may have been the point, but if so, it was made heavy-handedly > Given the first two weaknesses, this film is just too long. I kept wishing they would get back to the concert and recording-session footage
The film is still a must-see for Amy Winehouse fans. Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of Amy Winehouse's jazz record with Tony Bennett.