Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

I can't say as I remember this being released in the cinemas, so it sure took me by surprise seeing it on DVD. This is one heck of a romp.

I knew a bit about Ian Dury but not much. I knew the songs of his that managed to garner some air time and I knew he was afflicted with polio as a boy, but that's about the extent of it. Watching this movie was like walking into Ian Dury World. What an unbelievably colorful character. And what a great way to present him in a movie.

I'd seen "Ray" and "I Walk the Line" and I enjoyed them enough, but they look entirely pedestrian compared to this. Here is a movie about a rock star and it contains very little footage of him making, recording or performing music. It's about him. Who he is, how he thinks, his bad sides and good sides. He's bright and imaginative and he's almost always "on." It occurred to me that he wasn't really a musician at all but an artist that expressed himself through music. They make note of the fact that he always needed someone in the band to help him write tunes.

The movie itself is a hoot. It captures the time perfectly. It's goofy and adventurous, with a lot of funny, wild 'sign of the times' nuances in art, fashion and.......music.

The performances are generally good as well. Olivia Williams is gorgeous as ever and turns in a fine performance as Dury's wife. Naomie Harris is good as the girlfriend. But the shining star is Andy Serkis. He steals the show. I liked his portrayal so much I wanted to call him up and have a beer with him.

There is nothing I didn't like about this movie. It's a wild and fresh approach to the genre and could probably be enjoyed by someone who doesn't even know who Ian Dury is. The production values are good. I had problems understanding some of the dialogue but I'm not certain if it were in the production or the thick accents. But this is a minor quibble compared to all else it has to offer.

If you need a real shot in the arm, this might do the trick for you.

The unusual biopic "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" is a quintessentially British excursion into the punk rock scene circa the 1970's. In a highly stylized fashion, director Mat Whitecross has tweaked expected musical biography conventions to dramatize the life of Ian Dury (Ian Dury and the Blockheads). This chaotic entertainment has many strengths and begins with a flourish of visual mischief to introduce Dury as a showman before settling into a more conventional narrative approach. If you are a fan of Dury or, indeed punk rock, then recommending "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" seems an easy task. However, if you have yet to be initiated, the film may be a little harder to sell. As with most films of this nature, Dury's artistry and talent are influenced by a troubled past and, quite frankly, his depiction does not always present the most pleasant of viewing experiences. At times, though, I don't know that "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" went far enough. Dury's debauchery seemed perfectly palatable to everyone in his immediate circle--until it wasn't. There was a certain lack of focus on developing supporting characters which made it unclear as to when they thought he was behaving badly.

But I'm jumping ahead. Dury is played with mush gusto by Andy Serkis (and yes, I'm one of the nerds who thinks his performance as Gollum in "The Lord of the Rings" was worthy of an Oscar nomination). Serkis was a nominated for a BAFTA for this larger than life portrayal, and it's easy to see why. The film chronicles Dury's childhood battle with polio and outlines his relationships with his absentee father (Ray Winstone), his put-upon wife (Olivia Williams), and his nubile life partner (Naomie Harris). But most of the dramatic heft is saved for Dury's troubled, yet remarkably sane, relationship with his son (Bill Milner). Strangely enough, Dury's musical accomplishments are given fairly short shrift. If you have no preexisting knowledge of the rise of Dury's career, don't expect "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" to connect all the dots. How he became a success still seems a bit vague to me. For the first half of the film he sat at home writing. Than, with no transition or explanation, he was playing sold out concert halls.

In truth, I would have appreciated more exposition. I feel that "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" kept me at a distance from the real Dury. As I mentioned, aside from Milner, it seems that the entire cast exists to react to Dury without being fully formed as characters in their own right. So this left me a little cold. But, if anything, there's still Serkis and his dynamic performance. His scenes with Milner are easily the most effective and affecting dramatic moments in the film. And anytime Serkis performs a number, "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" ignites! The musical sequences have terrific flair, drama, and urgency.

The DVD presentation includes a featurette with the film's director, interviews, commentary, and deleted scenes. They are an enlightening peak inside the passion that brought this film to fruition as it was clearly a personal project for Whitecross. In the end, "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" was a good, if sometimes incomplete, look at Dury. I retained an emotional distance throughout the picture, but was captivated by the music, the period details, and especially by the incomparable Serkis! And there's no denying, the picture goes out with a bang! KGHarris, 1/11.

I would go so far as to say this is one of the best pictures about rock 'n roll that I've ever seen in my life -- believable portrayals, including by great kid actors, psychological study, sweep-you-along mis en scene, busy but in the right way visual effects that slow down when you need to slow down for emotional impact, just plain smart filmmaking. Ian Dury, especially at this late date, is an all-but forgotten but absolutely key figure at the dawn of punk, outside of it but a part of the ethos. He was a pub rocker or something like that who hit zeitgeist with the title tune and many other odes for outsiders and the disaffected. His story is told with warts and all. You root for him but you see his faults, and he knew he had them. Outsized character, rebel, misfit, polio victim, bad husband and boyfriend, loving husband and boyfriend . . . complexity, which is so rare in the broad brush bio-pics we get here in the states. Dury's relationship with his son is best of all. Seek it out.