This won't make me the most popular poster here, but things have got to be said.
Right off the top, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth as much as I am a fan of any of the other pioneers and artisans involved in the evolution of the art form. But I gotta say I was disappointed in this film. I really expected more from the guy who gave us Comic Book Confidential, which is a well done documentary, but this film is weak in comparison.
While Big Daddy was a pioneer, he wasn't the be-all and end-all of the kulture movement, as this film would have us believe. Other than Ed, there is a brief mention of Robert Williams, one quick shot of Baron Crozier, a short clip of Von Dutch and that's about it. The history of the movement seems to exist as an afterthought.
I know this is supposed to be a film about Big Daddy, but the fact is, he had help from others in doing what he did (Ed Newton was one glaring omission), yet the screenwriter and director make it sound like Roth was the only guy behind it all, and the average viewer would have no idea otherwise.
Unfortunately, this film is self-serving in that it perpetuates the myth of Roth as the Father of the Gods. His greatest claim to fame (besides inventing the message t-shirt) is that he had an uncanny knack for marketing. That he achieved his fame with the help of others and yet never fully publicly recognized them, was testament to his understanding that the public needed a figurehead to idolize. Not that there's anything intrinsically wrong with that, but it would be nice to give a little credit where credit is due.
Typifying this irreverence, there is a "dig" at George Barris near the end of the film. Barris was customizing vehicles when Roth was in knee-pants, and yet Mann & Co. give the impression that Roth invented kustoms. How are Barris' later TV/Hollywood-mobiles a less valid contribution to the kulture movement than Roth's studio-designed model kits? What makes Roth's Rotar any less ridiculous than Barris' Drag-u-la? (At least Drag-u-la was a car). The film seems to suggest here that the Golden Age of Kustoms ended when Roth said it ended. Maybe that was the screenwriter's and director's way of tying things up, but as with most of this film, they are essentially giving an inaccurate view of history.
Something more like an actual documentary would have been nice. For instance, you never hear about Ed's conversion to Mormonism. I can understand them not wanting to trumpet that fact, but it happened, and it affected Roth's career, so it should have at least been mentioned. Some interviews with contemporaries would have helped, might even have got this thing up to the 90 minute mark.
I guess I should have known better when I bought the DVD, that instead of an introspective, objective look at Ed Roth's career it would be nothing more than a love letter to Big Daddy (at which it wildly succeeds), but I was hoping that Mann would at least try to expand upon how his overall contributions fit into the big picture.
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a cultural icon, and this film leaves little doubt of that fact. But if you are looking for a comprehensive history of the kulture movement, you will have to look elsewhere.
Right off the top, I want to make it clear that I am a fan of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth as much as I am a fan of any of the other pioneers and artisans involved in the evolution of the art form. But I gotta say I was disappointed in this film. I really expected more from the guy who gave us Comic Book Confidential, which is a well done documentary, but this film is weak in comparison.
While Big Daddy was a pioneer, he wasn't the be-all and end-all of the kulture movement, as this film would have us believe. Other than Ed, there is a brief mention of Robert Williams, one quick shot of Baron Crozier, a short clip of Von Dutch and that's about it. The history of the movement seems to exist as an afterthought.
I know this is supposed to be a film about Big Daddy, but the fact is, he had help from others in doing what he did (Ed Newton was one glaring omission), yet the screenwriter and director make it sound like Roth was the only guy behind it all, and the average viewer would have no idea otherwise.
Unfortunately, this film is self-serving in that it perpetuates the myth of Roth as the Father of the Gods. His greatest claim to fame (besides inventing the message t-shirt) is that he had an uncanny knack for marketing. That he achieved his fame with the help of others and yet never fully publicly recognized them, was testament to his understanding that the public needed a figurehead to idolize. Not that there's anything intrinsically wrong with that, but it would be nice to give a little credit where credit is due.
Typifying this irreverence, there is a "dig" at George Barris near the end of the film. Barris was customizing vehicles when Roth was in knee-pants, and yet Mann & Co. give the impression that Roth invented kustoms. How are Barris' later TV/Hollywood-mobiles a less valid contribution to the kulture movement than Roth's studio-designed model kits? What makes Roth's Rotar any less ridiculous than Barris' Drag-u-la? (At least Drag-u-la was a car). The film seems to suggest here that the Golden Age of Kustoms ended when Roth said it ended. Maybe that was the screenwriter's and director's way of tying things up, but as with most of this film, they are essentially giving an inaccurate view of history.
Something more like an actual documentary would have been nice. For instance, you never hear about Ed's conversion to Mormonism. I can understand them not wanting to trumpet that fact, but it happened, and it affected Roth's career, so it should have at least been mentioned. Some interviews with contemporaries would have helped, might even have got this thing up to the 90 minute mark.
I guess I should have known better when I bought the DVD, that instead of an introspective, objective look at Ed Roth's career it would be nothing more than a love letter to Big Daddy (at which it wildly succeeds), but I was hoping that Mann would at least try to expand upon how his overall contributions fit into the big picture.
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was a cultural icon, and this film leaves little doubt of that fact. But if you are looking for a comprehensive history of the kulture movement, you will have to look elsewhere.