Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

This film tells the story of a young boy who suffers from polio, and becomes mildly disabled. He does not let this aspect of himself get in the way of his success, and he becomes one of the most influential musician in the British punk rock scene.The story revolves mainly about the grown up Ian Dury, who seems to spend a lot of time on sex and drugs. He behaves erratically at times, but it seems that the consequences of his actions are not much touched upon. I may have missed what happened after he trashes the studio, but there seems to be no consequences after being taken away by the police. I have to say the story does not connect with me at all. I don't find the characters sympathetic or likable, and I do not care about any of them. I find this film boring and less than engaging.

Not the worst biopic I've seen the past few years. Something for the fans of films like The Boat That Rocked, Good Vibrations and CBGB, although it's absolutely not as good as Richard Curtis' tribute to the pirate radio's of the 1960s. If you're into Ian Dury and The Blockheads Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll is something you might enjoy. Especially Andy Serkis' performance as Ian Dury, which is spellbinding at certain times. But as with so many biopics, this one also suffers from boring flashbacks, sentimental nostalgia and lack of its own style. The scenes on stage, when Ian is talking to his audience (and the viewers), are probably the only ones that really honour Dury's persona and kookiness. Everything else is conventional cinema accompanied by an awesome punk / new wave soundtrack by The Blockheads.

Andy Serkis gives a great performance as the 70s/80s alternative punk psycho...Ian Dury. If only the rest of this movie was up to the standards of Serkis. Sadly its not. It is made in a kind of "experimental" way, with strange and severe flashbacks. The idea was (probably) to make a movie in the style of Ian Dury. I am pretty sure Dury would have hated this. The attempts to make Dury...at times...a regular guy sitting at home with his wife--are simply ridiculous. Doing his biggest commercial success "Hit me With Your Rhythm Stick" in a swimming pool was desperation. It is a movie that is always mis-directed. The great performance by Serkis will ...unfortunately...be forgotten.

In one scene Olivia Williams (as Dury's wife) throws plates at Andy Serkis(Dury) in a domestic argument - typically of this film it seemed stilted and unreal. That said Andy Serkis is terrific as Dury, as I expected. Naomi Harris is hot and a damned good actress to boot. The style of the film rather gets in the way of a coherent narrative and is ultimately unsatisfying. The Blockhead's music is always worth hearing and I would have liked more band performance on screen as that is what made Dury great. It is to the movie's credit that Ian Dury is seen warts and all, like most rock stars he was a complex and difficult man at the best of times. This film was not quite what I expected it to be and therefore overall I was disappointed in the final result.