Topic: "The Kids Are Alright (The Who)" Review by Darth Praxus [No Spoilers]
This cult classic is often lauded as one of the great examples of a so-called "rockumentary" film, e.g. a documentary that follows a rock band and attempts to do more than just provide us with concert footage. The Who being one of the two contenders for my favorite band of all time (they and Green Day constantly wrestle for the top slot), I'm naturally bringing a bit of bias to this review, but I'll strive to be as objective as possible throughout.
A bit of background: The Kids are Alright is really nothing more than a fanboy who has been hired by his heroes and given a colossal amount of time and resources to compile some of their favorite home movies. Jeff Stein was an American and an ardent fan of the 'Orrible 'Oo. Despite never having been involved in the film industry, he approached Pete Townshend, the group's guitarist and lead songwriter, and asked for his cooperation in compiling clips of interviews and live footage to record the story of The Who on film. While Townshend was initially reluctant, he and the rest of the band were won over when Stein showed them a preview reel that contained 17 minutes of live footage he had been able to gather. They gave him the go-ahead, and for two years he scoured through warehouses, rubbish bins, and television studios to find enough material to fill out the film's running time, sometimes literally rescuing film from the garbage, and the band recorded two new gigs to give him additional footage of some of their most famous songs. Drummer Keith Moon died just after the final cut had been assembled.
In terms of pure rock 'n' roll awesomeness, this film is unmatched. The Who were universally considered to be the greatest live band of all time during their heyday, and The Kids Are Alright contains some of their most spectacular concert performances, including their rendition of "A Quick One, While He's Away" at The Rolling Stones' Rock and Roll Circus, a performance in which they blew the Stones out of the water at their own concert and has been universally lauded as one of the best live songs ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNSRfy56o3M for the video); their infamous performance of "My Generation" on the Smothers Brothers show, in which they smashed their instruments and blew up Keith Moon's drum kit without warning the producers beforehand (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xZOrWK6d4g); and blistering tracks such as "Baba O'Riley", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Get Fooled Again", "Cobwebs and Strange", and "I Can See for Miles". The Who were the first true rock and roll band, and they prove that they deserve their reputation here. The footage is quite restrained, lacking the choppy every-three-second cuts and shaky-cam that plague most concert films.
As an insight into the four different band members (Roger Daltrey—lead vocals, Pete Townshend—guitarist/songwriter, John Entwistle—bassist, Keith Moon—drummer), the film falls rather flat. There are interviews aplenty, to be sure, but most of said interviews are with either Moon or Townshend. Moon, the best rock drummer in the world before his untimely demise, had a manic, childish and demented sense of humor, which made for incredibly energetic live performances but unfortunately rendered him a rather poor interview subject. Townshend provides much more material to work with, but this actually works against the film, in a way; instead of giving us a look at the band as a whole, it seems as though Townshend has seized the spotlight for much of the piece, which can get annoying. Daltrey and Entwistle each have a handful of clips that last all of fifteen seconds each.
As a proper documentary, the film also fails. There is no obvious through line running through the whole thing; there is no sense of an overarching theme or connective tissue. Townshend makes lofty statements about what he's trying to accomplish with his music that quickly become repetitious (and sometimes self-contradictory). Closer to the mark are Daltrey's brief meditations on the future of rock and roll and the nature of said genre, which seem far more interesting than what Townshend is trying to say, but don't last long enough to give us more than a taste. It feels as though Stein was attempting to give us that through line; perhaps the underlying theme he wanted to leave us with was "This is rock and roll, like it or not; it's loud and tasteless, no matter how much people try to make it rise above its origins, and maybe it doesn't have a future, but we're just gonna keep having fun for as long as we can." If he had cut some of Townshend's ramblings and added in some more of Daltrey and Entwistle, perhaps this theme would have been more clear; as is, it's there but hard to see. The film comes off less as a documentary and more as what it really was: a fanboy who wanted to relive some of his favorite band's best moments on the big screen, but wanted to make it look like more than just an ordinary concert film at the same time. Did Stein succeed? Not really.
In conclusion, is The Kids Are Alright worth watching? Despite my rather negative perspective on its merit as an actual film, I have to say yes, as long as you recognize that you're in for some good, loud fun and not much else. It's a good way to show people who have never listened to the band before what their music was all about, and if you're already a fan you'll be sure to appreciate the amazing concert footage and what worthwhile interviews are there, and even though Moon was not a great interview subject, we do get a good look at his final days before his tragic demise. If you're not a fan of the band, I'd recommend that you give the film a look anyway as a chance to experience their great music, but caution you to realize that what you are getting is not by any means a film-making masterpiece. Just take it for what it is—entertainment.
Last edited by Abbie (2012-07-19 22:48:49)
