Hunky Dory tries to emulate what has already come before it in terms of musicals; Glee and Across the Universe, neither of which I have to say I'm a fan of but I'm willing to give anything a chance so I decided to see Hunky Dory.
The generic coming-of-age plots are held together by the show the kids are performing in with Minnie Driver at the helm but that's the problem; there are simply too many characters. In fact, there are a dozen and it's just too much to try and take in. No criticism towards the actors but 12 different characters to follow just gets confusing and bogged down. Now, 3 or 4 main story lines I think would have worked perfectly but we aren't given the chance to engage with any of the characters as their stories are jotted all over the film and it's hard to remember who's doing what, who's going where and frankly, it's just hard to care.
The musical numbers, as enjoyable and respectfully done as they are, sometimes seem just to be thrown in for the sheer hell of it. It suffers from 'Across the Universe syndrome' in that, the songs they perform happen to tie in with exactly what the characters are feeling and going through. Now that might work for some people but I'm not a big fan. It's just too corny. I did find myself getting quite into some of the songs however, the covers are good, as is the soundtrack. I just love Bowie in honesty!
I'm not a fan of the film, obviously, but I will say it's good for it's music and soundtrack. That isn't enough reason to go and see it however and I would say it could definitely be given a miss.
The generic coming-of-age plots are held together by the show the kids are performing in with Minnie Driver at the helm but that's the problem; there are simply too many characters. In fact, there are a dozen and it's just too much to try and take in. No criticism towards the actors but 12 different characters to follow just gets confusing and bogged down. Now, 3 or 4 main story lines I think would have worked perfectly but we aren't given the chance to engage with any of the characters as their stories are jotted all over the film and it's hard to remember who's doing what, who's going where and frankly, it's just hard to care.
The musical numbers, as enjoyable and respectfully done as they are, sometimes seem just to be thrown in for the sheer hell of it. It suffers from 'Across the Universe syndrome' in that, the songs they perform happen to tie in with exactly what the characters are feeling and going through. Now that might work for some people but I'm not a big fan. It's just too corny. I did find myself getting quite into some of the songs however, the covers are good, as is the soundtrack. I just love Bowie in honesty!
I'm not a fan of the film, obviously, but I will say it's good for it's music and soundtrack. That isn't enough reason to go and see it however and I would say it could definitely be given a miss.