Katy Perry: Part of Me

I went to this film last night with my friend who is a massive Katy Perry fan. As expected, we were practically the oldest patrons in the cinema, so the younger demographic surrounding us were of much entertainment as was the film.

My friend and I both went to her concert last year so it was a good insight into the 'behind the scenes' of the many hours of hard labor that went into this fantastic two hour show. I was sort of hoping for a bit more info into her personal life but I suppose there is only so much content that can be shown in a 90 minute segment.

Overall I enjoyed Perry's documentary and her sheer dedication she commits to her ever prospering career. She, as a person, is absolutely stunning and always a pleasure to watch!

When I say I'm a non Katy fan, I don't mean I dislike her. I just mean I've only heard her on the radio. Which, if you live in the free world, is basically every time you turn the radio on.

I started watching this movie expecting it to be your standard mega-produced, glamorous, glitzy promotion like most insanely successful pop stars put out. It sort of began that way, with spectacular concert footage cutting to clips of screaming kids singing along in the street, a few airplanes, exotic locations, makeup room shots of the star, blah blah blah, it's really a canned formula. But pretty soon the tone shifted dramatically and took us right to her humble origins. That's when things started getting interesting because the film becomes less about the "celebrity du jour" but instead it becomes a unique story of how a normal person became the "celebrity du jour". So I decided to watch a little longer.

I won't go into her life details which everyone but me probably knew already, but she really is the quintessential rebel, a preacher's daughter who began singing Christian songs in her teens, but then left her conservative home for L.A. and, well, started writing songs like "I Kissed a Girl". It could've been fun if the filmmakers had played up the drama & controversy of this break from her puritanical upbringing, but they decided not to go there. The movie remains wholesome and family friendly throughout. Aww, bummer, I thought and again played with the idea of changing the channel to reruns of "The Headbanger's Ball".

But then... ah yes, here's where the real fun begins. Although I see other reviewers have complained about this movie milking her shaky marriage to comedian Russell Brand, I thought that angle is precisely what made it a great documentary. Not because I was drooling over the saucy details of celebrity love lives, but because this theme is excellently woven into to the age old motto of the performing artist since the first stage was built: "The show must go on".

And that, mixed with electrifying performances, some bits of humor and of course screaming teens, is how "Part of Me" becomes a great experience, especially for those of us (performers or not) who have ever had to suppress our own misery and hardship for the sake of "the show". The film pulls no punches. It shows Katy at her best and her worst on this 300+ day tour that ended up rocketing her career while practically destroying her personal life.

I highly recommend this film to performing & touring musicians of all genres. I also recommend this to anyone who is struggling to balance a career with a family life. My only disappointment is that it didn't feature as much behind-the-scenes music (rehearsals, jams, etc), instead focusing more on stage production & dance choreography. It's all impressive, but I would've loved to see the guitarist practicing his solos, or Katy singing alongside a piano. Instead all the music is from the show, produced and polished without any blemishes that make rehearsals fun to watch.

My favorite tour video of ALL TIME is called "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" which is an unintentionally hilarious look at a metal band's comeback attempt. That's the raw stuff I like to see. "Katy Perry Part of Me" is on polished side, but it still delivers a very human story with a lot of value. So, yes, I recommend this movie. It didn't make me fall asleep. In fact you could say "I'm wide awake" (boo hisss)

It's 2011. Katy Perry is embarking on her California Dreams Tour. It starts off as a traditional inspirational behind the scene concert movie with a good dose of the story of a young struggling artist. It introduces her team, her family and her journey so far. The journey is a little enlightening with some fascinating bits about record labels. It's all pretty much expected from a concert film introducing an artist. It's a good first half about her rise. The movie moves into auto-pilot where her marriage is wonderful, the fans are adoring and it's hard-working fun. About an hour in, the real world relationship intrudes and her marriage to Russell Brand falls apart. It gets hinted at from time to time culminating in the text message. If this is a regular drama, the climax is Katy waiting to rise up onto the stage. The movie would end soon after that. Watching Katy breaking down is like skimming the surface of a very deep pool. There is probably so much more to the story but we're given only glimpses. In the end, this is concert movie and not an in-depth documentary. It can't turn into a deeper analysis for both personal and professional reasons. It's an opportunity lost. She does show herself to be driven, professional and a romantic. For fans, that would be more than enough.

There have been tons of concert movies that have come out, but unless you're a fan they really have a limited audience. With the latest Katy Perry: Part of Me they do something a bit different than just deliver another concert film, but instead an inside look at the creation and execution of Perry's tour, but also a documentary aspect telling about her career and personal victories and heartaches throughout.

What's good about this film is that you don't have to be a fan of her music to find it interesting. On one side you get the Behind the Music vibe of her career wrapped in a big bow of making of the concert, sprinkled with numerous performances of her on stage. While all this is entertaining in itself, what really takes this film outside of the norm is the closer look at her personal life and emotions that she deals with while struggling to deal with life, marriage, and an unbelievable tour schedule. Here they never shy away from showing her raw moments of breaking down from pushing herself just as much as the glamour and fun of her seemingly magical world she has created around her. It's refreshing to see a star of her caliber that feels like a down to earth girl who made it big time and now just happens to be one of the biggest stars in the world. Of course there will be those that think some of it is just playing to the camera and who knows, but really who cares. The entire vibe she has created seems to bring more happiness to the world and her fans and seeing the amount of work and actual creative control she has it really impressive for someone still so young.

Like her music or not, this film is so much more than that. This is a behind the scenes look at the side of music you don't see very often. Every star has their ways of doing things, but here seeing what Perry, and obviously many others like her go through both personally and physically to deliver what the fans clamor for should give you a new respect for both her and the performers in general. What's really crazy is that you can't help but enjoy this movie due to the simple fact that it exhumes joy on every level. It's like you fell off a cloud into a real life candy land and will bring a smile to your face.

http://www.examiner.com/movie-in-dallas/bobby-blakey

Katy Perry: Part of Me, was, to be completely honest, okay. It was indeed interesting to learn about Katy Perry's off stage life, and on stage life, but the movie sadly dragged it out to much. It was too long for a sort of movie like it was. It, at some parts, got extremely boring. If you love watching movies about singers or actresses lives off and on stage than this movie is for you. But if you don't like it when they drag movies out and put stuff in there that is extremely pointless than this movie is definitely not for you. Katy Perry: Part of Me was just one of those movies that when nothing else is really on you turn it on and watch it. Of course if you love Katy Perry, then this Katy Perry movie is going to have you glued to the television. I am not a big fan of her, but the movie wasn't bad, just dragged out.