Sinatra: All or Nothing at All

I just saw this off HBO GO the other day, and thoroughly enjoyed. It goes through Sinatra's entire life and career- from his humble beginnings with immigrant parents; to his fame and fortune, and countless affairs; plus tie-ins with the mob, relationships with presidents, etc... So much is covered here, they had to do this as a two-part, over four-hour documentary. But no matter; the time just flies by. The music is great; the performances are mesmerizing, and this doc. is quite a lot of fun actually. Look for interviews with Mia Farrow (damn!-was she cute), producer Robert Evans, Frank Sinatra Jr. (who refers to his father as Sinatra in professional references), Tony Bennett, Harry Belafonte, the list goes on and on...

With Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005-also reviewed) being my 8th favourite film of all time, I was really interested in seeing this two-part title from director Alex Gibney when it first screened on the BBC ,but I sadly missed it. After viewing the superb doc Shadow of Truth (2016-also reviewed) I was thrilled when Netflix recommended this to me,which I watched in the wee small hours.

View on the film:

Not featuring a single talking head/new on-camera interview, director Alex Gibney fills the four hour-stadium runtime with superb archive footage,bringing Sinatra's classic tunes alive with never before seen footage and photos spanning Frank's growing up in poverty, his wide-eyed dreams to become a star,and a loved-up romance with Nancy Barbato.

Bringing new context to the footage, Gibney plays Sinatra's involvement in the Civil Rights movement and the peak of Frank and The Rat Pack's with insightful voice-over interviews with family members, former record producers and partners, who reveal the man behind the star-studded image.

Despite the large runtime, Gibney leaves the impression of some subjects only being partially delved into,such as Frank's ties to the mob, and highlighting the impact that the passing of his dad had on Sinatra, but no mention of the tragic passing of his mum Dolly, (she died in a plane crash in 1977) in what is otherwise a excellent doc which proves that Ol' Blue Eyes did it his way.

This documentary was absolutely fabulous. Sinatra has always been my favorite, as his music is what I was raised on. I can openly admit though, that I only knew bits and pieces about his life before watching the documentary. I feel so informed after having watched hours about the man's life, and I greatly appreciate that the documentary included high points as well as low points. To know a person, you have to know all aspects of his/her personality, and I think that this documentary did a wonderful job of trying to cover so much material in only a few hours.

I would definitely recommend watching this documentary if you want to learn a little bit more about Ol' Blue Eyes and the fantastic work that he accomplished in his lifetime!

Amazingly beautiful, heartfelt, honest, and beyond Special. First I've Always LOVED Frank Sinatra, what a man, what a talent, a hard worker with a dream who loved his family, friends, audience. I'm beyond in love with this documentary. You will be too!

Sinatra: All or Nothing at All (2015)

**** (out of 4)

Highly ambitious documentary that takes a look at the rise of Frank Sinatra from his way out of New Jersey to the rise in the charts and eventually conqurering Hollywood, Las Vegas and anything else that he wanted to.

Not too many people could have their life story take up four hours but that's exactly what we get here with SINATRA: ALL OR NOTHING AT ALL, which is certainly the perfect title for this. The documentary covers the life of Sinatra as we get to hear his story in his own words. Hours and hours worth of interview footage was used to come up with the story structure here, which is also done according to the eleven songs that the singer would do at his 1971 retirement concert.

There's no question that this is a highly entertaining documentary that works on many levels. The greatest thing about it is that there are some terrific video footage of various concerts, radio specials, television specials and other items. There's no doubt that a lot of this footage hasn't been seen before and that's the greatest thing this documentary offers. Plus, you've also got the interview footage with Sinatra, which is great fun and especially since it is used to tell his own story.

Several others are also interviewed and we get to hear their voices including Sinatra's children, his first wife and even Mia Farrow. The various high points of his life are discussed including him breaking onto the radio, taking Hollywood by storm and winning an Oscar, his continued rise on the music charts, his various women, The Rat Pack and his connection to JFK. His mob association is also discussed throughout the four hours.

I will say that there were some problems with the film including the fact that the last twenty-five plus years of his life are discussed during an "encore" that only lasts around ten or so minutes. It's really too bad they just didn't extend the running time to take a look at his later years since it's doubtful another documentary is going to come along like this one. I'd also argue that the documentary took it rarther light on Sinatra and really didn't dig into any of the darker stuff around him.

With all of that said, at four hours the film really does seem to be too short, which says a lot about the film as well as the man himself.