Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me (2017)
A star-studded roster of interviewees (including Jerry Lewis, Whoopi Goldberg and Billy Crystal) pay tribute to the legendary, multi-talented song-and-dance man.
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Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
"Fabulous" was the word I heard again and again as I left the theatre after a screening. The movie is terrific! A wonderfully made documentary of a brilliantly talented entertainer, it shows us the highs and lows of a singular life! There is plenty of Sammy Davis, Jr., in the film, starting from when he was a precocious performer at age 3. The breadth of his talents is well covered and simply dazzles. An interesting array of well known and not so well known people comment on the star's highs and lows, their words well chosen and never boring. His life was bound up with the politics and social mores of the time, an aspect that made the film important as well as a joy to see. I was so mesmerized that I forgot to eat the excellent chocolates I'd bought.
"I've Gotta Be Me" is an installment of "American Masters"...a consistently good PBS series about a wide variety of folks in the arts. However, I saw this one in a very usual place...at the Philadelphia Film Festival! The show is about the life of Sammy Davis, Jr. and because it's on "American Experience" they try to generate a bit of controversy at the outset of the program. In this case, Davis supported Richard Nixon...which actually made sense when you later learn how abysmally JFK treated Davis...uninviting him to the inaugural party even though Davis was a huge supporter of the President. That aside, the rest of the show chronicles his life from about age 5...with a strong emphasis on his career achievements as opposed to his personal life. This is the style of "American Experience" episodes...and if you want a more personal look at the man you might have to look elsewhere. Overall, well worth seeing and a show that will give you an appreciation of the man's many talents.