Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Blows the typical Hollywood bio-pics (RAY, WALK THE LINE, etc. etc.) right out of the water. A career-defining performance from Andy Serkis...his BAFTA nomination was more than well-deserved. He literally inhabits this physically and emotionally demanding role. The film does not sugar-coat the fact the Dury was a hard man to be around. Superbly edited as well, combining graphics, animation, varying film-stocks and angles, B&W, flashbacks, and fantasy sequences (ever see a band perform UNDER water?). While this might sound like a mish-mash, it certainly reflects those same artistic elements and chaos of the times. Yet the movie never loses it's narrative thru-line. A must-see, even more so for those who remember.

The Ian Dury story was definitely too strange for fiction. A disabled pop star - in the modern video age - who created a mix of musical hall, punk and pub rock that topped Euro charts and still gets a whirl now and then on nostalgia radio.

But is this is the real story? For a start he had one of the great backing bands (and to be frank they were more musical than him!) and, besides that, he was both an art teacher and born and brought up well outside of London. Making him Mockney No.1.

Like most bio-pics, facts that don't fit the overall picture are thrown over the wall. Also chronology is not guaranteed either. Never mind the interesting bits that the micro-budget couldn't touch.

Serkiss is simply great as Dury. Indeed hard to see anyone doing any better with the material. Such as it is. Why did women go for this unconventional man who clearly had a great deal of trouble thinking beyond himself and his own creature comforts?

("Don't know" says the movie very honestly. Although he may have been quite nice on the days he wasn't acting a prick. There was a brain and a conscience up there.)

Like many artists you are glad for their art because it shows they had hidden depths that their appearance and behaviour didn't always indicate. Later he left music ("writers block") to try and be an actor. I don't mean play at being an actor, but become a real one. Work at it. Character roles a speciality. He did OK actually. Another fact that could have been a good 20 minutes rather than ending up over the aforementioned wall.

The whole production team has worked hard to get some energy and oomph in the film and not to make it limp like the man himself, but despite that it is really only a time passer. As I have already said, the film doesn't have the budget to get involved in his era (which made him really) and while it is nice to know he had a country house and a swimming pool the real action is clearly elsewhere most of the time.

The magnetic performance of Andy Serkis is reason alone to watch this film! Masterly performance! The film itself held my interest throughout... but having bought Dury's stuff on 7" vinyl when it came out, I had a vested interest!!! People unfamiliar with the man and his music might struggle to last the pace.

I would have liked the movie to have paid more attention to the great chart success the man had... rather than just fast forwarding to the ensuing self-destruct mode of fame!!! Missed opportunity... one could indeed say What a Waste!!! Interested in British music history... success over adversity... controversy... go and see it. A fan of Dury and the Blockheads... go and pay homage.

Might have been better... but still a great tribute to a great artiste, and well worth a view!

Lots of good performances here, but a lack of cohesion. I'm an Ian Dury fan (as well as Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Wreckless Eric et al) and I was struck by the lack of historical context. Other than a brief reference to The Sex Pistols, there's no sense of time or place here, no evidence of the seminal Stiffs Live tour that cemented Ian's fame and a lack of recognition to the Blockheads, who were (and are) one of the best bands ever - their funkiness and elasticity were unique. A lot of psychological flashbacks and a last 20 minutes that reminded me of a "Movie of the Week". Nowt about the years leading up to his passing. A newcomer might wonder what all the fuss was about.

In one scene Olivia Williams (as Dury's wife) throws plates at Andy Serkis(Dury) in a domestic argument - typically of this film it seemed stilted and unreal. That said Andy Serkis is terrific as Dury, as I expected. Naomi Harris is hot and a damned good actress to boot. The style of the film rather gets in the way of a coherent narrative and is ultimately unsatisfying. The Blockhead's music is always worth hearing and I would have liked more band performance on screen as that is what made Dury great. It is to the movie's credit that Ian Dury is seen warts and all, like most rock stars he was a complex and difficult man at the best of times. This film was not quite what I expected it to be and therefore overall I was disappointed in the final result.