Film Reviews

Sex And Drugs And Rock And Roll

• Rating:
• Director: Mat Whitecross.
• Starring: Andy Serkis, Olivia Williams, Naomie Harris, Bill Milner.
• Details: UK / 115mins (18).

This biopic of hellraiser Ian Dury will appeal to his fans but those new to the fold will find it difficult to appreciate the fuss. Debut writer Paul Viragh's script takes the viewer from the singer's humble but raucous beginnings as Dury courts the pub circuit with Kilburn & The Highroads; Dury's penchant for the titular vices and the firing of drummers, however, meant the band never rose above cult status and disbanded. Dury, who suffered from polio since he was seven, wasn't one to feel sorry for himself and he put together a new band - The Blockheads - penning '70s 'hits' like the title song, Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3, culminating in 1981's Spasticus Autisticus. Viragh's script does cover these bases, yes, but Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll is more about the man and his family than the man and his music. Ample screen time is devoted to his on-off marriage with Betty (Williams), with whom he had two children - Jemima (Charlotte Beaumont) and Baxter (Milner). Jemima is elbowed out of the picture in favour of the father-son relationship, the movie's heart. More screen time is given over to the other woman in his life, Denise (a dependable Naomi Harris) while flashbacks to his sometimes-absent father (Ray Winstone) and time spent in school for disabled children, where the emphasis was on toughening the kids up for the big bad world outside, litter the running time. So with all this going on, what about the rise to fame and, most importantly, the tunes - the reason the movie was made in the first place? Well, they are glossed over. At no point in the film is the audience privy to how important and famous Dury became. There is an ever so brief montage that includes a blink-and-you'll-miss-it chart placing and director Mat Whitecross grants one scene where Dury is mobbed outside a gig by what looks like five people. These scenes seem like a distraction to Whitecross and Viragh who can't wait to get off the stage and back home to where Dury spends time with Baxter. It might sound like it's a quiet movie but Whitecross's style attempts to mimic the madcap lunacy of Dury's anything goes music. Sharp editing, breakneck pacing and loud-loud-loud sound effects pummel the viewer into submission. It can get a bit much at times. Where the biopic can't be faulted is in the performances. Serkis, all sweaty, foul-mouthed and rock and roll to the core, is perfect as Dury but the actor can't help his character from being boring at times as the constant shouting gets tough on the ears. Williams, Harris and Milner (following up his impressive stint in Son Of Rambow) are equally impressive. Even Winstone and Toby Jones, despite their short screen time, fill out their roles.

Review by Gavin Burke