Back to Black (3.5*): Winehouse Biopic Illustrates Her Unique Talent & Tragic Decline.

A One Mann’s Movies Film Review of “Back to Black” (2024).

You’d need to be a bit out of it, particularly if you are from the UK, not to realise that “Back to Black” is a biopic of the legendary but tragic singer Amy Winehouse who died in 2011.

The film is directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who burst onto the movie scene with a wonderful film about another music legend (John Lennon in 2009’s “Nowhere Boy”). It’s written by Matt Greenhalgh, who also wrote “Nowhere Boy” and who has an impressive CV of more recent scripts. So, the film has pedigree and it does make for an interesting watch. However, it sadly didn’t fully live up to my expectations. It left me thinking “where are the cinematic ‘WOW’ moments I was expecting from this?”

One Mann’s Movies Rating:

Plot Summary:

Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela) is a rebel, “likes bad-boys” and is blessed with an astounding voice. Guided by her ex-jazz-singing Nan (Lesley Manville) and her proud father Mitch (Eddie Marsan), Winehouse finds fame and fortune readily, neither of which she seems particularly interested in. What she does want is the love of her bad-boy friend Blake (Jack O’Connell) and to be a mother. But fame, drink and drugs keep screwing up her dreams.

Certification:

UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Very strong language, drug misuse.”)

Talent:

Starring: Marisa Abela, Lesley Manville, Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell, Juliet Cowan.

Directed by: Sam Taylor-Johnson.

Written by: Matt Greenhalgh.

Running Time: 2h 2m.

“Back To Black” Film Review:

Positives:

• The film goes down the “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Rocketman” route in having the film star do the singing (unlike the recent Bob Marley biopic “One Love” which used original tracks). And in this regard, Marisa Abela (who, apart from a bit-part in “Barbie” and a role in the TV series “Industry”, has been in nothing I recognise) smashes her role as Amy. Her vocal impersonations (she does all her own singing in the part) sound absolutely spot on to me. Although there are very occasional snatches of studio recording segments, the film wisely shows the songs in a live context which allows them to be slight ‘variants’ on the originals you know and love. Is it a good acting performance by Abela? It’s was “OK” in my book, but once or twice felt a bit stretched. The Illustrious Mrs Movie Man and I were pondering on whether doing an impersonation of a famous person is an easier or harder acting job than taking a character from a page and making it your own. (It certainly did Oscar-winner Rami Melek no harm in 2019!)
• Abela is ably supported by the wonderful duo of Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville, who never seem to put an acting foot wrong.
• The film gives an interesting perspective on Winehouse. A lover of jazz music, she is seen as someone who seems to genuinely not relish either the fame or the associated wealth. (Indeed, she walks away at one point to “do some more living” as input to her songs.) She seems to have been genuinely unique in that regard.
• When you have a tragic tale like this one, you are wondering (and in some cases fearing) how the finale is going to be portrayed. Just to say that this follows the “Elvis” and “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” approach – – by doing it with beauty and delicacy. It makes you suitably sad that such a vibrant and unique talent should exit the world at such a ridiculously young age (27).

Negatives:

• I went into this film with some preconceptions about some of the characters in the drama – namely those of Mitch Winehouse (Eddie Marsan) and Blake Fielder-Civil (Jack O’Connell). But came out a bit confused since both characters, although displaying their faults and failings, felt rather over-sanitised. Perhaps this sets a record straight? Or perhaps they were “technical consultants” and this is a bit of a whitewash job?
  • Postscript: This article in The Times indicated that both Mitch and Blake were consulted for the film (and met their respective actors, who they got on with) but had no creative control over the film. The article comments “Fielder-Civil and Mitch are portrayed kindly because these were the two men Amy loved most in her life, whether those relationships were always healthy or not. The villains of the piece are the eating disorder bulimia, addictions to drink and drugs, and the pressure of fame. At every one of her worst moments, the paparazzi are there harassing, bullying, provoking, hungry for the next picture of a vulnerable woman in a vulnerable state.“
• The involvement, or lack thereof, of Amy’s mother Janis (Juliet Cowan) also confused me. She is there in the start of the film and then appears prominently at the end but is nowhere to be seen in the middle of the story. Did she make any efforts to try to keep her daughter on track? I’ve been told that I should watch the documentary “Amy” to get a different perspective on the story, and I will do that.
• Like I said in my intro, I didn’t really get any cinematic “WOW!” moments during the film to lift it up from the ordinary to the extraordinary. There were enough drug-taking sequences that would have allowed the film to go somewhere a bit different and break-up the vanilla narrative, but these opportunities were not taken.

Summary Thoughts on “Back To Black”

It’s yet another biopic about a tragic female solo artist. As for previous efforts (e.g. “Judy“; “I Wanna Dance With Somebody“; “The United States vs Billie Holliday“; etc etc) it’s a tale that leaves you sad for the potential years of creativity that were lost. This is not the best biopic ever made. But its not the worst either. It entertained and informed without ever breaking out to be exceptional.

Where to Watch it (Powered by Justwatch)

Trailer for “Back To Black”:

The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYzIOBwyhIU .

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