One Direction: This Is Us

I'm 46 and the father of five daughters, the three youngest being in the One-Direction target age: 12th, 8th, and 6th grade. My daughters (including a 22 and 20 year-old) have managed not to go gaga over the Back Street Boys, N-Sync, the Jonas Brothers, Justin Bieber, and the like. 1D has been a little different, in that they caught my girls' interest and have kept it. My youngest three wanted to see this, and I surprised them on Labor Day by taking them. I thought about just dropping them off, but am glad I didn't. I read a critic's review that basically said that these guys are truly nice, decent guys, and that that comes through in the movie. It does.

I'm a huge Beatles' fan, so for me, much of the movie was spent not only enjoying the music (really, it's not bad stuff) and their humble and charming personalities, but also evaluating the sociological aspects of their "Beatlemania"-type popularity.

Here's what's interesting in the comparison. Unlike the Beatles, these guys are not skilled musicians and phenomenal songwriters. Mainly, they just sing, and they're good at that. What lies under their popularity are two things that also lay under the Beatles': 1) they are very humorous and relaxed (lots of quick, on-the-fly, funny comments); and 2) they're working-class boys (lads) who are really great friends and enjoy each other. With the Beatles, I've always thought that their palpable friendship and fun humor were the factors that made them so magnetic--they enjoyed each other, were great friends, and had fun with each other on stage and off. This is even more true for One Direction, as you don't have the leadership struggle with 1D that was there between John and Paul, nor the building resentment of a George. None of One Direction is trying to become the leader, and all are avoiding being the Justin Timberlake or the Sting. They really care for each other, are great friends, and, most striking to me, are tremendously and truly humble about their success. Along with this, they verbalize many times how each member is necessary, how they'd be less successful (or may not have even made it) had one member been missing, how it was a freak of nature/act of God, so to speak, that they wound up together, and that they'd all be doing menial jobs back home right now (factory worker, fireman, working in a bakery), were it not for their fans making them big (and they're really appreciative of their fans, and treat them well). Last thing on this: there's a segment when they go back home, and we see none of them acting like a big deal with any of the folks in their home towns. That was really refreshing.

Certainly these guys aren't the musical giants the Beatles were--not even close. But just as fun, even to adults? Yes, and maybe even a little more so. This movie, the "Hard Day's Night" of One Direction, was a really fun watch.

The movie is for Directioners (One Direction fans) and no one else. I went with my two 1D-mad friends, who loved it. I am not crazy for them, but I am fond of them and love Harry and Zayn, so I found most of it entertaining. I spent £8 on this film, which is why I didn't give it a ten out of ten because it wasn't really worth all the money...I'd pay a fiver. There are some moments in it where I couldn't stop laughing. Louis is particularly funny! Anyway, my two friends also thought it was very 'emotional' and cried in most parts. I didn't cry, but I guess I would if I was a proper PROPER fan! It's got all the songs in it for the music fans, plus all the backstage exclusive videos and rehearsals. Plus, you get to see all their families and what it's like on a tour bus. My only complaint would be that it didn't really make me love them anymore. It only told me what I already knew. Overall though, it's worth a try if you're not a Directioner and a must see if you are!

It is difficult to understand why anyone would pan this movie.

I watched this on an 8 foot high-definition screen. The images are razor sharp, the color is wonderful, the editing is in a modern style but not too jumpy. The story flow should keep your attention. On a decent 5.1 surround system the sound quality is very good. If there were technical flaws I was in a good position to find them. I didn't find any.

You get to see the members of the group perform and go about their lives. If you say (like one reviewer) that it was too scripted then you weren't paying attention. The boys revel in being spontaneous and doing what they want to do and wearing what they want to wear, or so it seems. It kept my interest.

All in all it was just fun - and I'm not even a fan.

OK, so I watched this movie as part of a thing I do where I watch the US box office number ones from one year prior and now it was time for the 1D flick. Apart from a few guilty pleasure songs, I don't really love this band like a lot of the screaming teenagers that the movie shows. Still whether we like them or not, there's no denying they're huge right now. Now if this success is to continue, that's another discussion. So I sat back and grooved to some songs I like and learned a little more about them. It wasn't something I desperately needed to know, but since I was already watching it, I ended up just finding out about this. Now as far as the boys go, I can see that this can be quite overwhelming for them and that they are just normal young people looking for a good time. One Direction has become a very loved, but also hate band. Personally I always separate the music from the individual and as far as I'm concerned, they seem like nice lads. So my advice is if you're a directioner definitely watch this, and if you're not, well if you don't mind them, see it just for the sake of actually seeing them as they are and not the product they're selling

Rating: 4,5/10

Okay, so I'm a massive directioner, I can understand why people are commenting saying they do not like it because it is about a boy band whose fans in general are teenagers like themselves. I don't understand though why people are commenting saying its sh*t and a waste of time, surely if they think so strongly that way, they would of realised near enough at the start of the film if it was for them or not, and if they decide it wasn't then go and 'make better use of the your time' I think that it is a perfect film for directioners, and the boys should be proud of their achievements and their stories, and making this film is one of them.