[.ca] Hendrix (2000)

From Amazon.com:
Most television movies about real-life rock & roll heroes are a deadening mix of biographical bullet-points and sensational recreations of outré behavior. Rarely does the essence of a pop artist, great or otherwise, come into focus within the spuriously tragic atmosphere of the kind of TV bio-pic that has made fools of the likes of the Beach Boys and John Lennon. Happily, that's not the case with Leon Ichaso's Hendrix, a remarkably sensitive film, originally broadcast on cable, that refuses to exploit guitar legend Jimi Hendrix's mythic appetites nor reduce his prodigious genius to bite-size drama. It is, instead, a portrait of the artist as a field of incongruous energy, sprawling everywhere and nowhere at once, remote from his roots and pained by the disruptive, implacable force of his awesome talent. Wood Harris (Remember the Titans) is wonderful as Hendrix, masterfully capturing the rock god's legendary shyness, unabashed sexual adventurism, and constant redefinition of his purpose and sound. Keeping him on a short tether is Hendrix's management team, which insists he keep up a grueling schedule for the money and throws obstacles onto the path of his creative freedom. Cuban director Ichaso (Sugar Hill) makes clever use out of a fictional, black-and-white interview Hendrix supposedly gave a journalist on the day he died. In it he talks about everything that comes to mind: playing guitar for African American singers on the old rhythm & blues circuit, the thrill of his triumphs during the London blues scene in 1967, and his efforts to mollify advocates of black militarism without becoming involved in it. Terrific support work by Billy Zane as Hendrix's would-be puppeteer, Christian Potenza as former Animals bassist- turned-rock-manager Chas Chandler, and Dorian Harewood as Al Hendrix. --Tom Keogh

Unintentional Humor and Intentional Boredom.:
Hmmm... Where to start? Wood Harris isn't really that terrible of an actor. (Although I've only see him in one movie.) This has to be one of the most challenging roles for any actor. Wood, however, plays Hendrix as if he was a mumbling airhead. The filmmakers also needed to get an actor who could actually play guitar. He didn't have to necessarily be good, just know enough to fake it. (Hendrix is one of the best guitarists in history, so it's okay if you can't play like him.) Also, this film, being a TV-movie, had a limited budget. The Woodstock scene was painful to watch, especially when it appeared as if Hendrix was only playing in front of a crowd of 10 extras. The costumes were great, but the hairpieces really needed some work. The biggest disappointment was the music. Since, the filmmakers were unable to license Hendrix's music, we get some really bad cover tunes with a singer that doesn't even sound like him. It should have been a sign that his movie should have never been made.

Sucks:
This was a really lousy movie, and a really lousy interpretation of Jimi's life. This is a good example of movie companies trying to make money by hitting a target audience with a very shallow product. The dude they had playing Eric Clapton made me laugh, He looks like Neo from "The Matrix" without the funny glasses. Basically, the music sucked, the acting was bad, there were huge gaps in the story (whatever happened to Jimi's military service?), and there was a sex scene thrown in just to attract people with dirty minds.

It's worth seeing once despite it's many flaws.:
"Hendrix" isn't exactly a top-notch movie, in fact, in many ways it's a real dud. However, it is a movie that is indeed worth seeing at least once if you're a Jimi Hendrix fan. Admittedly there are many problems with it, and while it has some positive aspects it's not easy to overlook the downsides. First and foremost the movie very hastily covers Hendrix's early years, most notably his childhood, which should have been focused on more. His cold relationship with his mother is hardly established, aside from a brief scene between the two. Another important part of Jimi's life, his tenure in the U.S. Army as a Paratrooper is very hastily done and is quite dissapointing. While it's entertaining to see Jimi outplay Little Richard and then get booted off the tour for doing so, it's incorrect, I wont bore you with facts, but it's something to keep in mind. Jimi's time as a studio musician is only mentioned by Jimi himself during one or two scenes, and that's about it. Now I can overlook those facts, but the thing that dissapoints me the most is how they handled The Experience. Bassist Noel Redding, while with some short and so-so scenes, is hardly paid any mind to, and even less for drummer Mitch Mitchell. They fail to truely give Hendrix's band mates credit, nor do they do justice to the charisma between the three. Hendrix's time after The Experience with The Band of Gyspys is served even less time, another important fact to Jimi's career brushed aside. Another flaw are the "musicians" themselves...they aren't even playing the instruments or making any attempt to make it look like they are for that matter. During several drum rolls Mitch Mitchell sits there and hits one cymbal, it looks quite ridiculous to say the least. Even Hendrix himself looks like he's just an amature who walked into a guitar shop, plucking the strings. Last, but not least, is the movie uses no actualy Hendrix recordings, calling upon studio musicians to try and mock Hendrix, as many reviewers have mentioned before, the National Anthem at Woodstock is almost painful to listen to. So why see this movie just once? To be honest, while I took issue with all of these negative facts, I still enjoyed it to a degree. Wood Harris, who plays Hendrix, does a fairly good job of capturing Jimi, though this is almost impossible to do. The dialogue between Hendrix and others is entertaining with some unrealistic yet memorable lines. I was glad that Hendrix's conflict between appealing to a mainstream white audience and appealing to his black roots was shown during a conversation with two Black Panther representatives. If you're a Hendrix fan, be prepared for this movie to have it's flaws, but don't dwell on them, see it at least once for the positive aspects, not the negatives. As for the three men who wrote this, if you plan to write a more in depth sequel of sorts, do it right this time. A movie about Jimi Hendrix needs time to establish his life, his career and his downfall, even if it meant a three hour film, I don't know of one Hendrix fan who wouldn't enjoy every minute of it.

Don't buy it:
This movie is horrible. Picture a guy with 6 pack abs talking effeminately, pretending to be Jimi Hendrix. It's that bad. They throw in a softcore lesbian scene, hoping to save the movie I suppose, but it can't be saved.

Catches the spirit of Hendrix:
At times I wonder if I saw the same video as those who gave the negative reviews. I thought it was a good easy-viewing synopsis of the career of Jimi. Although I never met him, I think I've tuned into his personality through his between-song comments and movie and television interview appearances. He was, as presented in the movie, a kind and easy-going soul who was somewhat unsure about his leadership role in the music industry. He was prone to let others take advantage of himself. At that time, the drug culture was in vogue in 60's London -- and Hendrix fell right into that trap. It's too bad, but a mighty creative force is also balanced by a highly destructive one. Hendrix rode his creative force into superstardom, but his self-destructive demons caused his early demise. I believe that the people who were consulted during the making of this film know more about Jimi than some of the negative reviewers on these pages. By the way, Eric Clapton did look that way during the late sixties in his Cream incarnation. Also, the soundtrack was extremely well done! I have been trying to find out who did the guitar parts. He (or she) captured the subtle inflections of Hendrix's playing marvelously. I think that Jimi would have been honoured.