Does Anyone Want Dury/Serkis?

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"Last night I saw Sex and Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll, the Andy Serkis/Ian Dury biopic," a friend writes. "Although it opened in the UK two months ago to generally good reviews, I'm not sure of US distribution or if anyone here really cares.

The flick is quite good, and Sirkis gives an award-worthy performance," he opined. "It goes a bit maudlin and overboard on the polio aspect -- Dury spent part of his childhood at a home for the disabled -- and gets a little Oliver Twist-y in parts. It also uses animation in some transition/montage scenes that recall (500) Days of Summer."

There's are reasons, I'm sure, why no US distributor has picked this film up, and why it never played Sundance, etc. I'd love to know what they are. Here's a guess -- selfish, self-destructive rock 'n' roll debauchery is not dramatically interesting or compelling. It can be argued, in fact, that it tends to be rather boring.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 12, 2010 at 8:25 AM

comment #1

Joshua Mooney says ...

Every story, theme and plot is potentially boring. But this trailer, alas, does suggest "maudlin and overboard" -- and not just about the polio. I'll see it because Dury *was* compelling, I remember them days, and Sirkis is perfect casting.

Posted by Joshua Mooney at March 12, 2010 8:59 AM

comment #2

MikeSchaeferSF says ...

Not the first time the suits decided that movies about cult-y Brit musicians are not commercially viable in the US. Just today I saw a trailer for a Joe Meek biopic (he was the guy behind "Telstar" in 1963 and rather lengendary in music-geek circles) that's nearly 2 years old -- no US release, it hasn't even shown up on cable (Sundance? IFC? hello?). The failure of Pirate Radio hasn't helped matters.

Posted by MikeSchaeferSF at March 12, 2010 10:27 AM

comment #3

Terry McCarty says ...

And it looks like Sam Taylor-Wood's young Lennon biopic NOWHERE BOY may still be in limbo re a US release.

Posted by Terry McCarty at March 12, 2010 12:15 PM

comment #4

115thDreamer says ...

Mike nailed it - It's just that Dury was never that big in the US. Huge in the UK in his prime, but not that big here. I mean, if someone made a good biopic about Slade, I could see it playing in the UK, but young & young-ish execs over here would just shrug and say "Who the fuck is Slade?" All we can hope for is that the buzz for Serkis' performance gets this thing out, sort of how the buzz on Bridges got "Crazy Heart" released months earlier than planned. We can hope, at least.

Posted by 115thDreamer at March 12, 2010 12:57 PM

comment #5

The Hoyk says ...

DeNiro and Rosenthal's new Tribeca distribution company is picking this up, hinting that it may hit VOD before theatrical:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ibe85493aa8b413300fdd928cf3b9bfd5

Posted by The Hoyk at March 12, 2010 1:29 PM

comment #6

Conan Riquelme says ...

The problem with it is that its fine, not bad, but never great.

Serkis is great in a really showy role, and Naomie Harris is quite good too. But it's budgetary limitations are plain in some scenes where a little more money could have gone a long way. The live scenes were obviously all shot in the same venue and you never really get a sense of just how successful Dury was in the UK - its difficult to represent Rock Star excess with a modernist house, a screening room and a swimming pool, but thats what this film attempts.

The animation stuff is a lightly awkward fit, as is the Dury-to-camera material.

There are also some hackneyed and reductive attempts at psychoanalysis common in rock biopics. Dury's polio-ravaged childhood, his relationship with his father etc.

But it is funny, some of it is imaginatively directed and Dury was a fascinating man. The music is fantastic, obviously.

Posted by Conan Riquelme at March 12, 2010 2:27 PM

comment #7

LexG says ...

Couldn't give less of a shit about anything, ever.

Don't care, never cared, Serkis isn't a movie star, NO fucking idea who "Drury" is, and this is probably some douchey British Steve Coogan type bullshit that I don't get and I don't want to.

Posted by LexG at March 12, 2010 4:16 PM

comment #8

Bob Violence says ...

why it never played Sundance

because it got a competition slot at Berlin

Posted by Bob Violence at March 12, 2010 8:57 PM

comment #9

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