Jimi: All Is by My Side (2014)

Who payed the critics

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.

Like the early Beatles bio-pic "Backbeat" this depiction of Jimi Hendrix's breakthrough years of 1966-1967 suffers from not playing any of his most recognisable songs during the period. It really is unthinkable that in trying to explore his complex character, the producers would ignore tracks like "Hey Joe", "Purple Haze" or "The Wind Cries Mary" to name but three. I don't know if it was they couldn't get licensing permission or whether it was deliberate, but for me it left a gaping hole in the finished movie.What we're left with then is in truth a rather flat, dreary movie which despite employing several cinematic tricks and devices, in the end comes out dull and boring, two things Hendrix assuredly wasn't. Among those devices is the name-plating of important people when they're on screen, even if only for fleeting seconds, just because they don't look sufficiently like their real-life counterparts (like Eric Clapton, Keith Richards and for one second George Harrison). Otherwise numerous jump-cuts, hand-held shots and unusual camera angles are deployed throughout no doubt to psychedelicise proceedings and get the viewer synced with swinging London in 1966-1967.Hendrix is depicted in three distinct guises, the sex-god who casually flits from woman to woman as they uniformly fall for his hippy-drippy, far-out exoticism, staying with him even after he hits them, the peace-nik dreamer who we see set out his flower-power credentials in a lengthy heavy discussion with black activist Michael X and lastly of course the shy musician, reverent of his blues history and modern contemporaries like Clapton and Dylan, who can drop in on a Cream gig and blow away Slowhand Clapton or dazzle the attendant Beatles at a Savile Row gig by playing the title track to their landmark "Sgt Pepper" album just two days after its release.I actually liked the acting in the film, Andre Benjamin of OutKast certainly nails Jimi's appearance, mannerisms, speech patterns and even his guitar playing style, the various women who pass in and out of his life are well played and similarly the actors playing his manager ex-Animal Chas Chandler and the Experience members Mitch Mitchell and Noel Redding are convincing.Somehow though this movie, whilst reasonably accurate in depicting the era failed to really leap off the screen and grab my attention with dialogue scenes running on too long and one senses really only touching the surface of the complex character that was James Marshall Hendrix.

Jimi: All is by My Side is a disjointed and rambling bio pic of the great Jimi Hendrix and rather fictionalised.Andre Benjamin is too laid back and fails to give a spirited performance until the he sings a Beatles song. The film is hampered as the makers could not get the rights to Hendrix's music.The film follows Hendrix in London has he impressed Linda Keith (Imogen Poots) over in the USA, who got him over to Britain and hooked him with a manager. While he is Britain, he impresses people with his guitar playing, takes drugs and womanises like no tomorrow. He gets a girlfriend Kathy Etchingham (Hayley Atwell) who he has a stormy relationship with.The film meanders too much and never even hits third gear. It finishes rather abruptly, I wanted to see him give his iconic performance in Monterey but rights issue probably got in the way I guess.It is no secret that Hendrix died by choking on vomit. Some decades after he died, the police re-investigated the cause of his death. It must have been someone else's vomit he must have choked on!

I feel some of the reviews here have been overly harsh on this film.Is it entirely accurate? No, but then tell me, what biopic is?It's a real shame though that none of Hendrix' music was featured in the film but then that only serves to credit the makers even more that they managed to creat a wholey enjoyable film without the music of the maestro himself.There was still some fantastic musical moments and the Soundtrack overall done the film justice.There was some excellent acting performances throughout and I feel the casting was remarkably well done in the main. The film gave the overall vibe of the times and how Hendrix came to prominence in the UK before hitting the Monterey music festival.It would be nice to see a biopic of this man made whereby his music is showcased, since that is what he was about and carry it throughout his overly short musical career.Yes, there are errors in this production and that's a real shame in honesty but there are also a lot of accuracies too.Overall, really not a bad film. Is it one for diehard Hendrix fans who know about his life? Well, probably not but for anyone new to the Hendrix phenomenon then sure, it'll serve as a basic outline into how he started in music.

Had heaps of potential but squanders most of it.The story of Jimi Hendrix's rise to fame, from playing in other people's bands in the US in 1966 to making a name for himself in London in 1966/7. Stops just short of his famous Monterey Pop Festival performance.Interesting from an historical and biographical perspective and had a lot of potential in that regard. However, much of this is wasted through silly, pointless sub-plots and lame, pretentious directing and editing. Instead of just telling the story, writer-director John Ridley throws in random cuts and scenes that go nowhere and add nothing to the movie.All this unnecessary stuff ruins not only the focus of the movie, but also the pacing. The movie starts stutteringly enough but at a point seems to get into a groove. At this point you think it is about to get better, but soon you have one of the random distractions, wrecking the flow. And so it goes for the entire movie. As soon as you have a meaty, interesting passage of play it is derailed by something frivolous. Makes it incredibly difficult to get into the movie, and is very frustrating.On the upside, the performances are pretty good. Andrew Benjamin (Andre 3000) does a good job as Hendrix, capturing his mannerisms, speech and general outlook quite well. Good support from Hayley Atwell as his psycho girlfriend and Imogen Poots as Linda Keith.