Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll

PG

1987

2h 0m

Documentary

List

89%

18 Reviews

Tomatometer

95%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Filmed by director Taylor Hackford on the occasion of Chuck Berry's 60th birthday, this documentary presents the rock legend performing in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Joined by a number of admiring musicians, notably guitar acolytes Keith Richards and Eric Clapton, Berry runs through his classic hits to an adoring audience. The production also features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Berry and others, providing an in-depth look at the pioneering guitarist and singer.

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Audience Member

Chuck Berry is awesome, gutless business man thinking with charm and fire with a flare for theatrics. Great doc.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It was worth the price of admission just to see Keith Richards sulking after being yelled at by Chuck Berry.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/28/23

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Audience Member

What a great movie even if it doesn't go full documentary and instead focuses on the concert series for his B-Day. You still get a sense of him and all his contradictions and it's fascinating watching. Holy crap was Little Richard going nuts in his interview. The man was high or something.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Loving and revealing at the same time. It is great to see four masters at work: Chuck Berry, musical director Keith Richards, Johnnie Johnson and Steve Jordan. This quote by Keef says it all: "He gave me more headaches than Mick Jagger, but I still can't dislike him."

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A fun documentary about one of the founders of Rock 'N Roll. Completely worth watching, just to see Chuck Berry tell Keith Richards he's not playing the guitar correctly.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent documentary about Chuck Berry's life. I liked how he explained the story about all his hits and it showed him practicing with Keith Richards. Didn't like hearing John Lennon's son singing Johnny Be Good.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

Full Review

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Taylor Hackford

Director

Chuck Berry

Self

Keith Richards

Self

Eric Clapton

Self

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Richard Harrington

Washington Post

Chuck Berry Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll is as long and unwieldy as its title, but it's probably the most revealing look we'll ever get of its subject, and the most loving evocation of his music.

Sep 10, 2014

Full Review

Janet Maslin

New York Times

This portrait of Mr. Berry is downbeat, and in some ways incomplete; it's very different from what might have been expected. But in its own way, Mr. Hackford's film is revealing.

Sep 10, 2014

Full Review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

What one misses most of all are some glimpses of the earlier Chuck Berry, when the intensity of his music and his jackrabbit moves had more satanic majesty; too much of this film shows him at half-throttle.

Sep 10, 2014

Full Review

Norman Riley

The Crisis

As informative as it is entertaining.

Nov 27, 2023

Full Review

Ángel Fernández-Santos

El Pais (Spain)

The director's inhibition paradoxically goes well with Berry's lack of inhibition, and the music as well as certain spontaneous aspects of the odd and strong personality of the legendary musician are there. [Full Review in Spanish]

Apr 17, 2020

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

This isn't a warts-and-all documentary about an often temperamental individual, although some of the warts are exposed.

Rated: 3/4

Nov 30, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

Filmed by director Taylor Hackford on the occasion of Chuck Berry's 60th birthday, this documentary presents the rock legend performing in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Joined by a number of admiring musicians, notably guitar acolytes Keith Richards and Eric Clapton, Berry runs through his classic hits to an adoring audience. The production also features behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with Berry and others, providing an in-depth look at the pioneering guitarist and singer.

Director: Taylor Hackford
Rating: PG
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 2, 2019
Box Office (Gross USA): $368.5K
Runtime: 2h 0m
Sound Mix: Surround, Stereo

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