Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Toni
Collette, Christian Bale, Eddie Izzard
Directed by Todd Haynes
During the
glam rock craze in England during the early 70s, one of the leaders
of the music movement, Brian Slade, fakes his own death as a
publicity stunt. The result backfires as the truth is known and it
sends the young glitter-rocker's controversial career down the
crapper, resulting in his disappearance from the public eye. Fast
forward to 1984, where a reporter who was a huge fan and was there
during the "shooting" is asked to find out, "Whatever happened to
Brian Slade?" for the 10th anniversary of the famous
non-murder.
Well-directed but poorly plotted by writer/director
Haynes, with good performances from his actors (who also sang their
own songs), gorgeous costumes, authentic feeling sets, and a great
soundtrack. The film is quite interesting while watching Slade's
career but the film slogs through metaphoric mud during the scenes
with the reporter, with the narrative becoming nonsensical and
surreal towards the end. The film will probably be loved most by
fans of the rock fad, but there isn't enough to sustain the interest
of anyone else.
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