Judging from the range of comments it produced, this one could very well become the gold standard for a 'cinema-Rorschach' test. Yes, the 70's eventually degenerated into over-the-top, disco-drenched silliness so of course it's understandable why some frame the film that way. All syrupy, wrong-headed excess. And part of me agrees with them - even Stigwood's other 70's 'successes' such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Tommy strike me as not good enough to be called absurd. And remember that this IS a musical - which means you have to check your normal perspective at the door anyway. And THAT usually means you are either a musical lover or hater.
So, what are we actually reacting to here? 'I liked the 70's AND I like musicals - so I like this movie'? Or, 'I hated the 70's AND I hate musicals - so I hate this movie'? Or, 'I LOVE the Beatles - NO ONE can ever do their music the way they did it - so I hate this movie'.
OK, so it doesn't work for you or maybe it does. I thought the premise was inane (I generally don't like musicals anyway) and the acting was , well, inane also. And I didn't like the 70's when I lived through them and like them even less in retrospect - so I have some fairly deep garbage to wade through to give something like this a decent shake.
But, there are some qualities to recommend this film. I found the Bee Gees to be a surprisingly good fit for a lot of the Beatles tunes. Their rich harmonies complimented and in some cases provided unexpected new dimensions to the Beatle's themes. Not every song worked but most did. Unfortunately that was not the case with Frampton. His soft demeanor just didn't deliver on many of the tunes (Sgt Peppers theme, for example). Forget the acting - I ignored most of it.
Rather than pick the whole thing apart, I decided to reside in the camp that says 'sit back, shut off the brain and just listen to the music'. And that allowed me to appreciate George Martin's unerring hand on the throttle. His timing, attention to detail and sophisticated musical guidance were ever-present. The production quality should seem familiar to true Beatles fans.
So in the end, I thought the whole attempt to be so much lesser than any individual Lennon/McCartney song (many of them are entire stories in their own right anyway). And squeezing something as sublime as 'Because' out of Alice Cooper was just sad. But even so, I'd say overall the music as steered by Martin makes this one at least worthy of a listen, if not a viewing.
So, what are we actually reacting to here? 'I liked the 70's AND I like musicals - so I like this movie'? Or, 'I hated the 70's AND I hate musicals - so I hate this movie'? Or, 'I LOVE the Beatles - NO ONE can ever do their music the way they did it - so I hate this movie'.
OK, so it doesn't work for you or maybe it does. I thought the premise was inane (I generally don't like musicals anyway) and the acting was , well, inane also. And I didn't like the 70's when I lived through them and like them even less in retrospect - so I have some fairly deep garbage to wade through to give something like this a decent shake.
But, there are some qualities to recommend this film. I found the Bee Gees to be a surprisingly good fit for a lot of the Beatles tunes. Their rich harmonies complimented and in some cases provided unexpected new dimensions to the Beatle's themes. Not every song worked but most did. Unfortunately that was not the case with Frampton. His soft demeanor just didn't deliver on many of the tunes (Sgt Peppers theme, for example). Forget the acting - I ignored most of it.
Rather than pick the whole thing apart, I decided to reside in the camp that says 'sit back, shut off the brain and just listen to the music'. And that allowed me to appreciate George Martin's unerring hand on the throttle. His timing, attention to detail and sophisticated musical guidance were ever-present. The production quality should seem familiar to true Beatles fans.
So in the end, I thought the whole attempt to be so much lesser than any individual Lennon/McCartney song (many of them are entire stories in their own right anyway). And squeezing something as sublime as 'Because' out of Alice Cooper was just sad. But even so, I'd say overall the music as steered by Martin makes this one at least worthy of a listen, if not a viewing.