Backbeat
1994VOTE NOW
| Gramercy Pictures (I) | Release Date: April 15, 1994 |
Summary:
A dramatization of the Hamburg, Germany phase of The Beatles' early history.
Genre(s):
Biography, Drama, Romance, Music
Runtime:
100 min
It's a terrific musical biofilm filled with drive, solid characterizations and - biggest surprise of all - musical performances that jump off the screen. [22 Apr 1994, p.33]
In chronicling Sutcliffe's story, Backbeat smashingly re- creates the Beatles' embryonic years. [04 Feb 1994, p.G19]
For all its contagious energy and surface authenticity, this early-Beatles docudrama comes off as the kind of biographical movie in which a group of unknowns appear to be all too aware that they're on the verge of international superstardom. [22 Apr 1994, p.D3]
Iain Softley, its first-time director, handles his actors with skill and has a real flair for comedy. But Backbeat also feels lightweight, not a landmark movie - it betrays its long genesis and many rewrites in an overpacked and unfocussed script, so often the weakness of Palace's previous productions. [01 Apr 1994, p.23]
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