Back to Black

Back to Black, the new film about the life and career of the late singer, Amy Winehouse, is, like too many biographical pictures, a mostly disappointing work. This is not because it is actively bad. The performances are, for instance, for the most part, workmanlike. That, however, is the problem. In a film about an artist and their life, there is nothing in this that makes us feel we are seeing something special, and something which gives us insight or any sort of different perspective. Other films about the making of art, such as Topsy Turvy and Love & Mercy were the rare works that allow a viewer to understand and feel a part of the creative process.

That may not have been the point of the film, entirely, but it was at least some of the mandate, here, as an early scene has Amy telling her manager that she is going away to experience more life, a moment that should have signaled something exciting. Instead, it leads to scene after scene of “this happened, then this happened, and then this, and because of that, this” which, sure, that is mostly how history works, and is an acceptable way of telling a story. That does not, however, make it interesting or worth your time. In Love & Mercy, the viewers were allowed to truly feel the pain and the process of Brian Wilson’s art and life. Here, we have moments where people tell us how they are feeling, and what they are thinking.

Courtesy Focus Features

In those instances where we are allowed to see instead of being told, it is done in such a way that you may feel beaten over the head by what they are trying to convey. As Winehouse, Marisa Abela does a solid job, including performing the songs required of her. This is fine, except that Winehouse had a voice with that certain something, that It factor, and Abela, a fine singer, just does not have the presence or power required for Winehouse. Indeed, her performance is the weakest among the main cast, in a film where there are mostly four characters to follow throughout the run time. Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville, as Amy’s father and grandmother, steal the show. They seem to have been acting in a different film, particularly Manville, who reminds us once again why she is a treasure in the world of acting.

Director Sam Taylor-Johnson did nothing truly wrong here, but neither did she add anything, to take a script that was clearly by the numbers and make it special. Clint Eastwood, with Bird, took the life of another jazz/blues legend, and created a film as complicated, daring and sometimes as frustrating, as the man and his music. Here, we are left wondering how a petulant child came to fame so quickly. That is another problem, in that the film skips large stages of Amy’s life and career. We do not see as much of her early “Frank” years, nor do we really see her putting together “Back to Black” though we watch her record it. This is a very unbalanced film.

Courtesy Focus Features

Yes, we get that she was close to some in her family-yet, strangely, we never see her brother and only barely meet her mother-and yes, we see her self-destructive tendencies. But, poor Jack O’Connell, as Blake, Amy’s husband, has his best scene undercut by the fact the film avoided some of the more disturbing realities of their private life. This is a film that seems afraid to show more than surface misery, or to go beyond recreating famous “oops” moments from a famed life, and that is where it fails its audience. Where is the insight? Where is the reason to keep watching this? Bohemian Rhapsody is a far from perfect film, but even that one managed to give the audience some understanding of what really drove Mercury, and to show some of the darker aspects of his life. Ultimately, this comes off not as hagiography, but as a product intended to honor a life, rather than fully explore it. There was a better film to be had, and there is yet a better film to be made about this amazing artist. In the meantime, you can still go see Amy, the 2015 documentary on Winehouse, from which this film could have learned a lesson or two.

BACK TO BLACK is now playing in theaters