Gavin B.

I'm not a big fan of biopics of musicians because they rarely get it right. There are three musician biopics that stand out from the rest of the mediocre ones.

Control, the Ian Curtis biopic was the rare exception because Sam Riley is such a talented actor and singer. I was shocked to find out that it was Riley, not Curtis singing on the soundtrack.

I was also impressed with Val Kilmer's portrait of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone's The Doors. Kilmer sang reasonably well in a couple of the live concert segments. Kilmer got the part by sending Oliver Stone a homemade video of himself signing a few Doors songs.

The final good music biopic is Bird, Clint Eastwood's 1988 portrait of jazz saxaphonist Charlie Parker. Forest Whitaker played Parker and he should have won an Oscar for it, but the movie got snubbed at by the Academy, after both the Golden Globes and the Cannes Festival both gave best director to Eastwood and best actor to Whitaker.

Most of the actors mentioned to play Hendrix in a biopic are way too old to play Jimi, who was 27 at the time of his death. Eddie Murphy is 49, Will Smith is 42 and Prince is 51. I don't think any of those three have the acting talent to pull off a believeable Hendrix especially Prince who is about as good an actor as Elvis was.

Casting the Hendrix role is challenging because it takes both a good actor and a good guitar player to pull it off in any sort of convincing manner. Forest Whitaker spent a couple of years learning how to snych the saxphone keys to Charlie Partker's playing and it nearly impossible to fake electric guitar playing, especially when you're trying to fake Hendrix.

The only person I can think of is blues guitarist Chris Thomas King who played a blues guitarist role based on Tommy Johnson in Oh Brother Where Art Thou. But King is well into his forties and has very different facial features and body type than Hendrix.

The guy who played Hendix in cable television biopic did an okay job but if I remember correctly he didn't have any scenes where he had to play guitar or sing which made his task much easier. There has been a biopic of Frank Sinatra's early years but I can't remember the title or the actor who played Sinatra.


Chris Thomas King

mr dave

you do know that Robbie Krieger has gone on record to call everything after the Peyote scene in this film Oliver Stone's wet dream for Jim right? it wasn't about reflecting the person or the band, it was about fellating the persona.


as for the continued rehashing of the names Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, and Prince. what part of PAST considerations are people having a hard time with here. Eddie Murphy and Prince were considered for the role in the 80s as in - when they were still in their 20s. Will Smith in the 90s... as in - when he was still in his 20s. and Andre3000 as the most recent in the first half of this decade - when he was still - is everyone ready for it?

his late 20s.


basically until control of Hendrix's estate changes hands we're never going to see a biopic. there are a bunch of books on his life out there that were written before his half sister decided it was her duty to whitewash his history for those really interested.

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boo boo

I thought Walk the Line was a very good biopic, I thought Ray was good too despite the transparent cliches.

Another really good biopic was The Buddy Holly Story. Gary Busey was very good in that. And yes once upon a time this guy actually did credible acting roles.

And yet the film really went out of it's way to make it clear that Morrison was a terrible person to be around.

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http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

mr dave

exactly, think about that for a minute more.

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