Movie Review: Back to Black

 

Michael’s Movie Grade: C

An okay biopic about singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse. 

Despite all its flaws this movie is worth watching for Marisa Abela’s incredible performance as Amy. She is simply incredible here. Her performance simply draws you in and makes it hard to look away. This is of course seen in her musical performances (she did all her own singing). Not only does her voice sound great but she puts so much energy and charisma into all she does on that stage. This charisma is what makes you feel like you are not just watching a talented singer but a real genuine star. This is something that must be captured when playing someone like Amy Winehouse and this young actress captures it perfectly. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that these are great songs in general, but her performance is what sells it. Yet she is just as great in the quieter scenes. She brings a lot of emotion to this performance and that really sells many of the scenes. The scenes where she is depressed about not having had kids are heartbreaking heavily because of her performance. 

The last act of this movie is where it really shines with a mixture of some very emotional scenes with some great musical performances. Though we have seen movies about famous singers dealing with alcohol and drug problems before, it is still done fairly well here. During these scenes the film puts you in her place and this works well enough for you to want to forgive this film’s major flaws. 

This movie has one of the strangest flaws for a musical biopic. It seems utterly disinterested in Amy’s actual music career. With all the focus on her romantic problems and alcohol addiction, we learn little to nothing about her musical career. Any scenes that have to do with her musical career are so rushed that I felt as if I missed parts of the film. For those who don’t know a whole lot about her career, this film will leave more questions than it answers. For instance, when did she go from hoping that she would make it to being a major star? How is she now singing in front of a sold-out concert when the last time we saw her performing she was singing a small bar? How did she go from having trouble with her stage presence to feeling so comfortable on stage? The truth is that we get no insight when it comes to her as a performer and a songwriter. This is part of what audiences want to see from a musical biopic and it is something the filmmakers seem to not understand. Similarly, much of the early parts of this movie can feel rushed to, almost if the film is simply trying to get to the part of her life that it really wants to tell. 

Though this film is incredible flawed there are enough things that worked to make me glad I saw it.