In the history of music, there has quite possibly never been another star quite as enigmatic as Amy Winehouse. Since her untimely passing in 2011, there have been countless documentaries and biographies made about her. Back to Black is one more.
Back to Black takes the viewer through the life of Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela, who has been in British television shows such as Industry and Cobra, but also played Teen Talk Barbie in last summer’s Barbie) from the start of her career until the sudden end of her life. Most of the movie revolves around her tumultuous on-again off-again relationship with her husband Blake Fielder-Civil (Unbroken’s Jack O’Connell) and how it affected both her music and her life.
That synopsis may be more interesting than the plot of the movie. Of course, everyone knows about the demons that Winehouse had to stare down in her life. So, it’s surprising that director Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey) and writer Matt Greenhalgh (Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool) play it so safely with Winehouse’s life story. In what seems to be an effort to not exploit the tragic parts of the tale, the most pivotal events, including the domestic abuse and rampant drug use, are skipped over, with the audience only seeing the aftermath. This whitewashes the story, effectively sterilizing what should be a fascinating look inside the life of a tortured artist.
For example, in one scene, Amy and Blake are arguing loudly and passionately, and then the film cuts to Amy running with a wound on her head, and the next scene shows Blake with scratches all over his face. It’s clear to the audience that a physical confrontation occurred, but the impact is lessened by not showing it, or at least creatively depicting it in another way rather than just skipping it altogether. It’s cowardly filmmaking.
The substance abuse in the film is handled similarly. While a line of cocaine or a swig from a bottle is shown here and there, most of the overuse is implied. Blake’s gift of a crack pipe to Amy raises some eyebrows, but there’s no gut punch that would come with seeing the actual act of using it. All of a sudden, Amy asks her father (played wonderfully by character actor Eddie Marsan from the Sherlock Holmes movies) to take her to rehab without actually showing her hit rock bottom. Again, cowardly filmmaking.
The most emotional that the movie gets is Amy dealing with the illness and death of her grandmother, Cynthia (Lesley Manville from Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris). As a singer herself, Cynthia was Amy’s role model, and thanks to some great acting by (and chemistry between) Abela and Manville, the audience really gets a feel for the love that these two characters feel for each other. And with that love comes the connection that the movie so desperately needs.
As one might expect, music is the heartbeat of the film. As a musical artist, Amy Winehouse has some real bangers, and they all get played in some way or another in the movie, whether as a selection on a jukebox in a bar or being performed at the Grammys. The soundtrack also includes songs from artists like The Shangri-Las, Tony Bennett, Billie Holiday, and The Specials that all in one way or another influenced Winehouse’s career. Even the score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (the team who also scored Hell or High Water and Lawless) is remarkable. Thankfully, in a movie about music, the music in Back to Black shines through.
Back to Black feels like a wasted opportunity. It’s an incredible true story that just feels neutered. It’s never boring, it’s just not as impactful, and therefore not as memorable, as it should be. It will wind up being just another movie about the adventures and misadventures of Amy Winehouse.
GRADE: C-
MPAA Rating: R for language throughout, drug use, nudity, and sexual content
Release Date: May 17, 2024
Running Time: 2 hours 2 minutes
Studio: Focus Features
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