From Frank Marshall, the director of Arachnophobia and Congo comes… uh… a documentary on The Bee Gees? Wait, where’s Frank Marshall been lately? (Pardon me a moment while I check IMDb.) Holy shit! It seems like the last movie he directed was fucking Eight Below fourteen years ago. Man, this might be the comeback of the year!
I guess it makes sense he would make this documentary as The Bee Gees were no stranger to comebacks themselves.
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart is one of the best documentaries of the year. It’s the engaging and absorbing story of one of the hottest bands to ever grace the music scene. It follows the brothers Gibb; Barry, Maurice, and Robin through their early career as a family band before finding success in England and America. Tensions between the brothers cause them to break-up, but after some time apart, they reunite to conquer the world with their iconic contributions to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.
Not only do we share in their successes, but we are also right there with them when they are at their lowest. Of course, I’m referring to the “Disco Sucks” backlash that whirled up to prematurely short circuit their careers. Ever the survivors, they branch out and begin writing songs for other artists.
If there is a fault to the movie, it’s that it more or less chooses to end their story here with them back on top (for the most part). However, I wish Marshall had spent more time on the band’s ‘80s stuff. For all the talk about Saturday Night Fever, there’s no mention of the Sylvester Stallone-directed sequel, Stayin’ Alive. I would’ve also liked to have seen them delve a bit more into their brother Andy’s death. Then again, he probably deserves a documentary all his own.
Those are but a few qualms. Even if it stops short of being the definitive look at the band, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart is nevertheless an enormously entertaining overview of their career. If you ever imitated John Travolta while blaring “Stayin’ Alive” alone in your room (Lord knows I have), you will certainly enjoy it.
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