Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll
Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll is the acclaimed biopic of Ian Dury, the gravel voiced poet who found fame as frontman for the New Wave group Ian Dury & The Blockheads.
Dury’s music was a pleasure to listen to bringing a ska rhythm and danceability, as well as a music hall lyricism, to the post-punk era and formed an integral part to the soundtrack of my student years. The music has proved to be enduring and songs such as ’Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick’, ’Reasons To Be Cheerful, Part 3’ and the films title track remain firmly ensconced in the public consciousness a decade after Dury’s death. The film however, while well intentioned and eminently watchable, remains as flawed as Dury himself.
The fault with this film lies in the fact that very little attention is given to the music itself. We move swiftly between rehearsals in the 60’s. the last gig of former band Kilburn & The High Roads (erroneously referred to as The Kilburns within the film) in the 70’s and finally achieving chart stardom with The Blockheads in the 80’s but absolutely no background is given to this remarkable rise from local zero to chat hero. When the music is grudgingly given time within the film it plays second string to film trickery or made up plot devices. For example, ’Sex, Drugs & Rock n Roll’ is bizarrely filmed underwater and ’Hit Me With Your Rhythmn Stick’ is interrupted after a few moments by a fictitious bust up between band mates. Chaz Jankel is the only Blockhead given anything to say in the film, with the rest of the band being rarely seen and silent extras.
The director, Mat Whitecross, instead prefers to concentrate on the human side of Dury, a move that does Dury little favour given his selfish, driven and womanising nature. The two main themes of the film are Dury’s complicated relationship with his son Baxter and his battle to overcome the polio that he contracted as a child. On both of these counts the film is an unqualified success, but it fits rather too neatly with countless other films dealing with triumphs over adversity.
The film is undoubtedly moving and Andy Serkis is fantastic in the lead role, rightfully garnering a Bafta nomination for carrying the whole film on his shoulders. The lasting impression is that Whitecross didn’t like Dury’s music and wanted to make a different film altogather. He comes out of this with little Directing credit as he almost manages to turn a potentially stellar success into a failure and is only rescued by a great performace by Serkis and the enduring appeal of the music of Ian Dury & The Blockheads.
How does a three valleys ski contest sound ?? All of you must put your names in, I am convinced we need to win this so we can finally have an excuse to get out of the city for a little bit.