The title of this worth-seeing documentary "Out of Time" refers to the short life of Chicago power pop trio Material Issue's lead singer, Jim Ellison. It could also refer to the fact that Material Issue's music seemed out of place in the early 1990s, the time of their meteoric rise and slow fade out.
The documentary covers the band's formation in the mid 1980s through their brief stardom, slow decline, and sudden tragic end with a hyper focus on lead singer, primary songwriter, and band leader Jim Ellison. The best interviews are with the two surviving members of Material Issue, Jim Ellison's family, and two producers who worked closely with the band - Jeff Murphy and Mike Chapman.
While engrossing for those who followed the band in the 1990s and were left wondering "what went wrong?", the documentary doesn't dive deeply enough into the band or main character Ellison, a shame since the running time is only about an hour. A lot of things are left unsaid or only hinted at, and big Chicago/alternative personalities of the time like Billy Corgan and Liz Phair are not interviewed. There are a few famous name like Steven Albini but they appear and disappear quickly, some after only a single comment about the band.
At one point in the documentary, an interviewee compares Material Issue to Green Day - a comparison that couldn't be further from the reality of the time. In the early 1990s, bands like Green Day, The Smashing Pumpkins, and Nirvana (mentioned only briefly here as well) were seen as the vanguard of a cultural revolution. Material Issue were retro power pop (obvious even to themselves, confirmed in music videos featured in the documentary), and out of step with the zeitgeist of Gen-X. In retrospect, the band's production and bravado put them more in line with some of the British bands of the era, a part of the music scene totally unexplored in the documentary.
Other things missing or only briefly covered in the documentary include Ellison's relationship with women. He's best known for songs about women (or songs about being in love with women), so commentary from ex-girlfriends may have been enlightening. Ellison's love of hot rods and Americana (apparent in the band's aesthetic of the time) only comes up when family mentions that he loved Evil Knievel as a child. The documentary doesn't totally ignore but mostly glosses over the fact that Material Issue was in decline long before the group's tragic ending, having been dropped by their label over a year before Ellison's suicide.
An article about "Out of Time" includes the line: "Material Issue were on the cusp of success when bandleader and songwriter Jim Ellison died by suicide." The story of a band on the edge of superstardom losing it all to sudden tragedy makes for great fiction. The real Material Issue story - the one about a talented and confident artist touching the edge of stardom only to see it all start slipping away - is potentially more interesting. Had the filmmaker dug into things only hinted at, this documentary had the potential to be truly enlightening. I still rate "Out of Time" ten stars because it's the best documentary ever made about a fascinating band and a fascinating person who should still be making music today.
