In Bed with Madonna

As a documentary, this movie is excellent. It takes us behind the scenes of one of the most successful and most elaborate music tours produced in recent times. We take a peek at Madonna's private life including her likes and dislikes, her friends, her hectic schedule, and her incredible ambition of staying at the top. But most importantly, we take a close look at how she influences everyone around her. Madonna fans, especially those that attended the Blond Ambition Tour, will really enjoy Truth or Dare.

I don't know sh*t about Madonna. I know that the media has a fixation on her aging (how dare she have a wrinkle at 57-years-old?), that she almost died at this year's Brit Awards while performing "Living for Love", that she sliced censors in half during her controversial 1994 interview with David Letterman, that Robert Christgau thinks she's a pop genius, that the gays love her, that she's, all right, clinging to her youth. But still, I hardly know anything about Madonna. Maybe I could barely sing the chorus to "Holiday", but that's all. I'd recognize her if she were to walk down my street. I saw her in "Dick Tracy" once. She was pretty good in that.

I suppose I was expecting "Truth or Dare" to have a sort of "Vogue" tinged romanticism, painting Madonna as a pop figure still untouchable, like how "Ready to Wear" made the fashion world funny, nowhere near realistic, but was all the better for it. For all the cultural bullshit that misunderstands her, "Truth or Dare" dares you to hate and love the pop superstar at the same time, wanting you to scoff at her need to be the STAR of every moment, wanting you to appreciate her relentless work ethic, her need to be an entertainer at the top of their game. And like all good documentaries (and why this one is so damn good), the film is riveting for everyone, outsiders and insiders alike. I wasn't a Madonna fan before the documentary nor will I be afterward, but as a rock documentary, "Truth or Dare" stands as one of the finest.

Recording the entirety of her 1990 Blond Ambition tour, the film is essentially an inside-look into what a day, a night, a week, a month, a year, looks like for Madonna. (Or maybe it just seems that way: a master of camera manipulation, she may just as well be putting on a show.) Photographed in grainy black-and-white, save for the colored (and obligatory) stage performances, "Truth or Dare" is more warty than glamorized, emphasizing her vulnerabilities, need to be the center of attention, and her wicked sense of humor (she seems to laugh more when people are having a hard time than when everyone is having a ball).

I couldn't care less about the complicated choreographic sets that circle around renditions of "Like a Virgin", "Express Yourself", "Holiday", among others; what makes "Truth or Dare" engaging is its frank candidness. Behind the scenes, Madonna notices that the majority of her young dancers are insecure and need mothering; strange, she remarks, how she likes to be a matriarch, to give her stage family someone to confide in. We catch glimpses of her short relationship with "Dick Tracy" co-star Warren Beatty, who scoffs at the fact that real-life doesn't seem to matter to her unless it is captured on camera. Cameos abound, featuring pop-ups from Pedro Almodóvar, Kevin Costner, Antonio Banderas, and Al Pacino. But there are three truly great scenes in the film, where Madonna doesn't seem to be putting on a show, where she doesn't seem to be trying to make herself look a certain way for the cameras.

Best is her reaction to Kevin Costner, who comes backstage for one show and describes the production as neat; disgusted, she gags, remarking "Anybody who says my show is 'neat' has to go." Later, an old friend (pre-fame old) meets Madonna in the hallway of her hotel, asking her to be the godmother to her soon-to-be born child. Though it is clear that the women were close back in the day, Madonna blows her off; she doesn't want to be a mother any time soon, and she doesn't have time to waste time with non-celebrities from the past. And in one of the closing scenes, she infamously models what a blow job from Madonna would look like on a glass bottle. Minutes later, she describes her true love as Sean Penn, heartbroken, regretful.

Fakery of course comes around — the scene where she visits her mother's grave doesn't feel all too sincere, rather the documentarian's hope to make appear feel bare- bones hopeless — but "Truth or Dare", ultimately, is a winning documentary that makes the once chart-dominating pop-star more fascinating, and timeless, than ever.

I do remember this one was released as In Bed with Madonna here in the UK back in the day and it made a few ripples. In fact, it became the highest grossing documentary of all time until Bowling for Columbine came along over ten years later. Having finally just seen it, I can't believe I waited until now to check it out, as this is a superb back-stage look at La Ciccone at arguably the apex of her powers. The film adopts a black and white cinéma vérité style, with colour concert footage interspersed throughout. Events take place during her 1990 'Blond Ambition Tour' which was in support of her iconic 'Like a Prayer' album.

Given that she is regarded as one who is known for controlling her career and image with an iron fist, its more than likely that she is putting up a front here and really performing as herself. Yet, this is part of who she is and you still learn a lot about Madonna here regardless. The backstage stuff is pretty priceless, with all manner of shenanigans going on, from her refusing to bow to police demands in Toronto where she is threatened with the cancellation of her show if she simulates masturbation on stage to the comical moment where a hapless (and impressively mulleted) Kevin Costner makes the epic mistake of describing her show as 'neat' (Madonna's supremely negative reaction to this is worth the price of admission alone). There is back-stage dramas with her and her crew, some diva like behaviour and several celebrity encounters. In amongst all that there is a selection of top tunes from the tour - it really does make me wish I had attended this myself (even if the nearest gig was admittedly Wembley Stadium several hundred miles away!). Anyway, this doc is a pretty good snap-shot of the 'Blond Ambition' tour/era and a genuine superstar at the height of her powers - it does go some way to illustrate how vivacious, hard-working and unique she was.

Nothing surprising is revealed in this documentary. Perhaps ten years ago, when the film came out, it stunned many fans and non-fans. But Madonna has remained in the spotlight ever since, and thanks to magazines, interviews, MTV, VH-1, not to mention her music, video, book and film work since 1991, we've seen most of the stuff in this documentary already. Plus, Madonna shows us only what she wants us to see. There are a few moments when the camera suddenly shuts off, like when she confesses that Sean Penn was the love of her life. She also talks about her huge crush on Antonio Banderas, and when he snubs her, she jokingly admits that she will never work with him (obviously she was kidding because she worked with him in Evita). When she's playful and in good spirits, she's fun to watch. But in the end, this is really a vanity project, instead of the completely "naked" documentary it was supposed to be. That probably suits her diehard fans just fine, but regular viewers are hoping to see more than her "attitude" backstage, long footage of her explicit onstage material, constant vulgarity, and high-maintenance daily rituals.

This is a wonderful documentary. It shows the ups and downs of being a rock star. Essential to fans.