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Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

Play trailer Poster for Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten Released Nov 2, 2007 2h 5m Documentary Play Trailer Watchlist
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89% Tomatometer 64 Reviews 87% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
Julien Temple's film is a fitting tribute to one of Britain's most influential and best-loved musicians, best known as the front man of The Clash, who mellowed in later life into fronting his new band, the Mescaleros. Temple's advantage is that as a chronicler of punk from its earliest days, he could call on his own archive footage as well as that shot by others over the years.
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Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

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Critics Consensus

Displaying Joe Strummer warts and all, The Future is Unwritten succeeds as both an engrossing documentary and a comprehensive examination of one of music's most legendary figures.

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Critics Reviews

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Wendy Ide Times (UK) Articulate, argumentative and influential: the Clash frontman Joe Strummer makes a rewarding subject for a documentary. Jun 21, 2023 Full Review Dave Calhoun Time Out Rated: 5/5 Nov 16, 2011 Full Review Joshua Rothkopf Time Out Rated: 4/5 Nov 16, 2011 Full Review Toni Vall Cinemanía (Spain) An at times exciting, restless and absorbing film. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 3/5 Nov 5, 2020 Full Review Benjamin H. Smith Decider ... effectively paints a three dimensional portrait of Strummer, unafraid to confront his philosophical contradictions, though neither dwelling on his flaws, and showing how by finding his humanity, he ultimately lived up to the ideals he espoused. Jan 24, 2018 Full Review Dave White Movies.com Rated: 5/5 Apr 4, 2011 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (729) audience reviews
Audience Member GREAT GREAT GREAT makes a rock icon human and loveable Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/12/23 Full Review nefasto r An interesting view of Joe Strummer life, a collage of pictures, videos (that I can only assume were not so easy to come across) and interviews. I love The Clash so for me the film was half way there even before starting it, but I guess that if you are not a fan, the story is definitely not mind-blowing. Here you see the man behind the legend, and the problem is... as a man he was pretty disappointing. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Interesting life of one man and his band. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Best music film ever made. Watch it, you won't be disappointed. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member A fascinating insight into the public and private life of a real rock icon. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member Incisive documentary. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten

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Movie Info

Synopsis Julien Temple's film is a fitting tribute to one of Britain's most influential and best-loved musicians, best known as the front man of The Clash, who mellowed in later life into fronting his new band, the Mescaleros. Temple's advantage is that as a chronicler of punk from its earliest days, he could call on his own archive footage as well as that shot by others over the years.
Director
Julien Temple
Producer
Amanda Temple, Anna Campeau, Alan Moloney
Distributor
IFC First Take
Genre
Documentary
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 2, 2007, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 9, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$248.2K
Runtime
2h 5m
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