Frankie Wilde

Considering the beating this film got in some reviews, I went to see it the other day, not expecting much from it. Surprisingly though, the film was pretty damn good! Paul Kaye (some of you will remember his often hilarious Dennis Pennis taking the mickey out of celebrities at film premiers) plays Frankie Wilde a mega famous DJ who's bringing dance music to Ibiza. All's going well for Frankie, he's rich, successful, has a wife and a string of sexy ladies on the side. All this goes down the drain when Frankie starts to lose his hearing, which of course, is not that good for a famous DJ. Kaye delivers some funny, upbeat lines throughout the film and so long as you don't mind his gurning for laughs, you'll enjoy the flick. Despite his arrogance and dirty coke and drink habits you find yourself cheering Frankie along and when he meets Spanish lip-reader Penelope you almost want him to get his hearing back for good. Although a gag-fest, filled with dirty humour and teenage-boy jokes, It's All Gone Pete Tong is a funny, witty film which will happily fill an hour or two in the coming summer months.

This movie has been entirely under my radar until Sound Of Metal came out and made waves last year. A few different people brought this movie up and called it "the original Sound Of Metal". While the primary plot point is generally the same (professional musician goes deaf and tries to deal with it in the best way they can figure out how), the movies couldn't be more different tonally - and guess what, they are both completely worth watching. While Sound Of Metal is a hyper-realistic, bleak, tasteful film - It's All Gone Pete Tong is almost the polar opposite. It's fully over-the-top, comical, loud, in your face, lightning paced, and hilarious.

I was entirely unfamiliar with lead actor Paul Kaye but his performance as cocky Ibiza resident DJ Frankie Wilde floored me. He perfectly captures the highest level of comic character acting while simultaneously capturing a very real, very depressing element of a man completely lost in the sauce (his head all the way up his own ass, you could say). The film uses a mish-mash of filmmaking styles to conjure a very unique vibe when viewed as a whole - when I first turned it on I thought that maybe I was about to watch an actual documentary, but that very quickly transformed into something else, but even then, I still found myself wondering if this was in fact based on a true story or not. It felt like it had to be! (It's not).

The first half of the film is such a riot that it demands a score as high as I've given it. However, I did find the second half to be less fulfilling as it very much turns into a sappy sort of happy ending that honestly feels a bit too far of a stretch from reality to be effective, and also a bit too far from the masterful hilarity of the first half of the film - like, why ditch it? If it would have kept the same tone all the way through it could have been a complete masterpiece.

Now, I've gotta ask... why the hell is this movie called It's All Gone Pete Tong??? Pete Tong is an actual DJ and film producer in real life, and only appears once at the beginning of the film, interviewing Frankie Wilde - and then we only see his name once more, as the support act on a show flyer. That movie has almost nothing to do with him - why is his name in the title?! Second, I feel the need to add that this film was the follow-up to FUBAR - the second film from that director. I had no idea until doing research, but, it makes sense tonally & stylistically - it seems that this is his most acclaimed film, and I can see why. It stands out big time. The Fubar guys have small roles as absurd Austrian musicians too! I recommend this to those who are into absurd, over-the-top comedy.

It's all gone Pete Tong is the story about an Ibizian DJ, Frankie Wild (who is a loud mouthed, cocaine addicted party animal). The mockumentary tells us quickly about his rise to fame in Ibiza and how he loses it, literally. Years of doing sets in the loud drug scened clubs are starting to set their toll on Frankie who is losing his hearing much to the annoyance of his agent, who cant seem to get a word of him. Suddenly Frankie loses the 20% of the hearing he has left so he barricades himself away from mankind in his Ibizian villa. It's all gone Pete Tong is hilarious when it's funny and if anyone was going to play Frankie Wild it had to be Paul Kaye. The film slightly slows down in the 70 minute mark, but still i'd recommend it to anyone even if they are not into the clubbing scene. The film capitulates the true meaning of a feel good summer film. 7/10

P.S It's all gone Pete Tong means (forthose of you who don't know) "It's all gone wrong".

The movie is very good, very well shot and the director deserves praise for his work. Kaye gives a memorable performance. The story is good, with a strong melodramatic theme, as the film is not so much about Djs than about handicapped hearing impaired people. It is sad and sweet at moments with very moving moments. Some touches of black humor, very British, a bit of swearing and two macho crass jokes don't spoil the overall feeling of despair and total compassion you feel for the human beings portrayed. The music is good not so much the dance music but the score. The picture is superb knowing it was shot on digital. It's a low budget movie which looks like a 10 million dollar film. And a meaningful film. Not to be missed. A true achievement.

Okay, a couple of things. First, I'm a big Paul Kaye fan, so I'm biased, and it all started with Dennis Pennis. For those of you who don't know Dennis, he's the original Ali G and IMHO much funnier. Search for "jeff meets dennis pennis" and you'll get a taste of Paul/Dennis and his ambush of Jeff Goldblum, who, I have to admit, rolls with the punches.

As a Paul Kaye fan, I was disappointed with Blackball. This movie (Pete Tong) was the first big Paul Kaye movie I really was looking forward to, until I read that the director was the same person who directed (and wrote) Fubar, which I cringed through and had to leave the room. (I would have turned it off, but the others were having a blast. Why? I don't know).

So, hearing that Paul was paired up with a director whose work I wasn't entirely enthralled with wasn't confidence building. I heard it won a couple of awards (Best Actor! Go Paul!) at the Aspen Film Festival in February and my confidence increased.

A sneak screening changed my initial impressions completely. The first half hour is really tough and I had to fight my urge to give up on the film even though Paul does an amazing job. See, I told you I was biased, but I'm not the only one. Ask those Aspen people. However, the last two thirds of the movie completely changes from a dark comedy into a light-hearted and empowering film. The music and the colors are fabulous and shows Paul's (as deejay frank wild) breadth. The film is really a "simple" redemption film, of a man who finds out what's important in his life and proves it for himself.

There's a love interest as well, and this works as a date movie. All the reviews and descriptions as a "dance" movie (I don't even know what that's supposed to mean) isn't entirely correct. While there is dance and rave in the film, it's really a backdrop for this simple story of a complex man who has to make some tough choices in life (and deal with a disability that is his worst nightmare).

Paul did an extraordinary job and I have to admit that the director really surprised me with this film, as it was nothing like his previous work. It's a difficult ride, but one worth taking. There's no "big surprise" ala 6th Sense nor is the beginning entirely too painful, but it's not all fun and games, either. Watch it and enjoy it and it'll be worth it. All least do it for Paul!