Backbeat

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Michael C "Backbeat" is one of those polarizing movies. A movie that seems to have just as many fans as haters. I am part of the former. More than three decades after its release "Backbeat" is still, at least in my opinion, a very well made and acted movie that has stood the test of time. That does not mean the movie is perfect however. As with every movie based on real life events, there are historical inaccuracies (The biggest being the movie's climax. So not to spoil the movie I will not mention it here.), but I expected that going into a movie of this kind. That could go either way, but for me the inaccuracies did not take away from the overall enjoyment of "Backbeat". I will start by saying the cast is excellent. There is not a single bad performance in the film. Ian Hart is phenomenal as the late John Lennon. Stephen Dorff is fantastic as the late Stuart Sutcliffe. The same can be said for Sheryl Lee who was nothing short of great as the late Astrid Kirchher, the photographer who made a significant contribution to the band that would eventually become The Beatles and dramatically change the course of Stuart Sutcliffe's tragically short life. All of them should have received Academy Award nominations for their acting (Hart should have won.). I should also mention that Gary Bakewell (Paul McCartney) and Chris O'Neill (The late George Harrison) are also quite good. One of my criticisms of the movie is Scott Williams' non-performance as original Beatles drummer Pete Best. He is just a background character who hardly has any dialogue and is treated like window dressing. The reasoning the movie gives, that drummers are supposed to be silent because nobody cares about them, was to me very contrived. It's like the writers could not figure out what to do with the character and just threw him in there to complete the story in a way. I must also mention one more positive highlight of "Backbeat" and that is the music which was recorded by a band that featured Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters and Mike Mills of REM. It was very well done and it fit very well with the movie and the very well staged musical numbers. In the end, for me "Backbeat" is a terrific movie despite its obvious shortcomings and is well worth seeing. I recommend you do so if you have not already. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 08/25/25 Full Review isla s This was an interesting biopic. Its quite good as a period drama I guess and it features some pretty energetic musical numbers. I certainly enjoyed the live music and the banter between the various characters, although the detective/PI type music played in the background at times was a bit over the top in one scene I felt. I wasn't very familiar with Stuart Sutcliffe, so seeing his life depicted was interesting. I can't say I knew a lot about the early days of the Beatles, so it was interesting from that perspective. The cast do a pretty good job (I was surprised quite how much Gary Bakewell looked like Paul McCartney) and its certainly an entertaining watch, so yes, I'd recommend it. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member A well performed and unique look at the lost, would-be Beatle, and the band, as they struggle to make their mark and deal with the fallout of possible misplaced love and expectations. It's not the kind of story you always see with music biopics, and I appreciate it for that. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/04/21 Full Review Audience Member On the one hand, when I think of the Silver Beatles in Hamburg, I definitely imagine that they sounded like middling mid-90s alt-rock and not, say, "Bésame Mucho" (cha-cha-boom). On the other hand, though, I'm grateful for the epilogue text explaining that the Beatles became the biggest group in the world (since I've been living under a rock rock), that Pete Best "left the group" before Ringo joined, and that John was murdered. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Great film, lacks accuracy but why let the truth get in the way of a good story! Raw energy and great performances throughout and a really top soundtrack that will introduce casual beatles fans to the pure rock and roll of the early years in Hamburg. On a side note, it was because of this film that i had my stag do on the reeperbahn! Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member A movie that is more about the 5th forgotten Beatle member from the early days, Stuart Sutcliffe. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Read all reviews

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