BACK TO BLACK (2024)

 

Directed By: Sam Taylor-Johnson

Written By: Michael Greenhalgh

Cinematography: Polly Morgan

Editor: Laurence Johnson and Martin Walsh 

Cast: Marisa Abela, Eddie Marsan, Jack O’Connell, Lesley Manville, Juliet Cowan, Sam Buchanan, Anna Daras, Spike Fearn, Therica Wilson-Read 

A celebration of the most iconic - and much missed - homegrown star of the 21st century, BACK TO BLACK tells the extraordinary tale of Amy Winehouse. Painting a vivid, vibrant picture of the Camden streets she called home and capturing the struggles of global fame, BACK TO BLACK honors Amy's artistry, wit, and honesty, as well as trying to understand her demons. An unflinching look at the modern celebrity machine and a powerful tribute to a once-in-a-generation talent.

I was probably always going to be harsh on this film as I am such a huge Amy Winehouse fan and I feel like the documentary. AMY is a definitive and informative statement when it comes to her life.

When it comes to biofilms the best, don’t try to tell the whole story they pick a certain period of the person’s life and fill the drama, even if the drama comes from their past. As Amy lived such a short life there might’ve been room to fit in from birth to her unfortunate death at 27

Even after all these years, it still feels too soon for a biofilm as the scars are still there. So I will say the film isn’t as bad as I thought.

Marisa Abela is the best thing about this movie. She is amazing and mimics her vocal style impressively. There are no problems with her performance.

What hurts the film? Is that even at just a little over two hours? It still feels rushed half the time where you can’t tell what part of her career she’s at times. It would also help the love interest at least the film. Would Moore sweep her off her feet and you could understand why she is so attracted to him other than similar interest. as it plays here, he always constantly seems like a walking red flag, even if he might have some raw sexuality or a danger about him, but it never comes across as convincing that she would just give herself so to this character

Another problem in the film is that we see that she gets depressed over the death of her grandmother and the volatile relationship she has with Blake, but it still never quite explains the other parts of the downward spiral. Yes, we can say depression, but it helps if we’re given more evidence instead of kind of just being told in one scene, or constantly being lonely, we need a little more to flash out and to believe in this more.

Sam Taylor Johnson directed the John Lennon bio film NOWHERE BOY, so this isn’t new territory for her she lands the plane so to speak when it comes to this film, but it is quite a bumpy ride with plenty of turbulence that is more not the adventure of the story or characters, but more in the way the story is told it tries to have a smoothness where it feels like it’s not even trying Standard something a little bit more a TV production than a cinematic vision.

As in the end, it plays more like a sad romantic, love story. That is almost one-sided, though there was definitely passion and emotion somewhere in there. 

One believes that if you are a Die Hard true fan of Amy Winehouse, you do not need to see this film. You should’ve already seen Amy but if you’re just curious as to ask her or just a bio seems to be a trend. This feels more like a student rather than, someone who cares about getting the story straight and the facts down

Grade: C