Audience Member
The Man from Mo' Wax is a fascinating depiction of the explosive rise and fall of maverick founder of Mo' Wax Records, James Lavelle. The documentary takes you on a fast paced emotional roller-coaster, through unseen and rare personal footage, of the highs and certainly the lows of the man behind Mo' Wax and UNKLE at odds against a rapidly changing and hostile world. With a surprisingly honest, and at points relatable, human story at its heart; this film is brazen and slick with an absolutely killer soundtrack.
The execution of the documentary is commendable. In the main, the film is skilfully constructed from a treasure trove of unearthed, self-documented footage derived from Lavelle himself and many of his friends and collaborators. The raw footage spanning decades is sophisticatedly intertwined with contemporary and retrospective interviews; additional exposition is smartly incorporated or in keeping with Lavelle's recurrent science-fiction theme. A particularly enjoyable aesthetic choice was the decision to have the cuts between stills dictated to the exceptional soundtrack, it gave the film personality and at times worked well to mirror the chaotic pace of Lavelle, Mo' Wax and indeed the music industry.
Following Lavelle's prosperous and naive beginnings, you really get sense of the scale of what Lavelle was achieving and at such young age. However, director Mathew Jones spends surprisingly little time on Lavelle's time at the top and focuses predominantly on the encroaching cracks appearing in several of Lavelle's relationships and his worsening position within a difficult and changing industry. Lavelle has the rug pulled from under him and refuses to move on from it, burning through years, relationships and gargantuan amounts of money trying to recreate it; but does he ultimately learn from it? The comment that is never really answered to, made by producer Antony Genn, that unmovably sticks in the mind is, "you don't have to be Sigmund Freud to work out that it might be you [Lavelle] that is the problem". It doesn't really come across that Lavelle has learnt or changed from his experience but has just simply moved on to his next opportunity and endeavour, tempting history to repeat itself.
The Man from Mo' Wax is an extremely engaging and polished documentary around a truly fascinating and driven visionary, working decades ahead of his time. It features an exemplary soundtrack and would be a sure-fire hit for any Mo' Wax or UNKLE purist. Regardless, the documentary does well to work with limited knowledge of the subject and remains engrossing throughout. When all is said and done and you strip it down to its bare bones, the film is ultimately a really relatable human story of ingenuity and perseverance.
Rated 4.5/5 Stars •
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
02/25/23
Full Review
Audience Member
I wish I could put in to words just how good this documentary is; For me Mo Wax was up there with Def Jam records, and I owned every album they released. To this day I still check out anything James Lavelle is involved in.
There wasn't a single moment in this documentary where I lost interest or felt the need to skip ahead; I will say this though, I didn't expect it to be so emotional. By the time the documentary reached its conclusion I just wanted to give Lavelle a hug and thank him for all the good music he brought into my life by starting Mo Wax.
Everyone involved in this documentary deserves nothing but praise. Now if only I could get paid early so I can try and get one of the limited edition BluRay / DVD box sets ...
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/30/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Incredible fast paced documentary that went beyond just the geekiness of the Mo'Wax label and delivered a fresh, human story about loss, friendship and never giving up. I loved the bits with his daughter. Very moving
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
02/06/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A fascinating watch even if you are not necessarily into this music scene. You are taken on fast paced and emotionally journey through James Lavelle's career. This is not your typical music documentary. It shows some quite raw and difficult to watch moments when Lavelle is at his lowest. The humour sprinkled throughout, especially from interviews with Josh Homme really make this film sparkle.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/20/23
Full Review
Audience Member
an Excellent documentary - a brilliant and honest portrayal of a young man who became wildly successful and lost it all - a 'must see' for anyone interested in music or the music industry - or just a terrific human story of a person trying to achieve his dreams at all costs. a who's who of influential musicians involved from thom yorke, brian eno, grandmaster flash, josh homme, jarvis cocker, ian brown, richard ashcroft,... the list goes on. very pacey and engaging. extraordinary and sometimes tragic.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
01/13/23
Full Review
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