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Rating:
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The Sparks Brothers

Country: united_kingdom, united_states

Year: 2021

Running time: 135

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8610436/reference

Chris says: “INTRODUCING SPARKS, their seventh album from 1977, would’ve been a better title for this doc from Edgar Wright (SHAUN OF THE DEAD). For those unfamiliar, Sparks, consisting of California born-and-bred brothers Ron and Russell Mael, is one of the great weirdo cult bands. Often ahead of their time (and occasionally out of it), they’ve managed a career spanning five decades were, at various intervals, they’ve been massively successful in the UK and France and have even appeared on American Bandstand with Dick Clark; yet, they remain too singular, too eccentric to have ever become household names in their home country.

“Wright crafts a gushing tribute to the Maels, tracking their career highs and lows in detailed chronological order, interspersed with talking heads interviews, cheeky animation and the director’s usual overload of furiously edited pop culture clips. Most fans of Sparks will eat it all up and neophytes who like what they see will rush off to consume their vast back catalog. However, I can’t imagine anyone who doesn’t share Wright’s love for Sparks getting into this, much less those who can’t stand Russell’s operatic vocals or Ron’s clever but occasionally arch lyrics. What’s missing here is a more detailed analysis beyond their onstage persona and further insight into their creative process in lieu of all the testimonials. As a fan, I found it all immensely enjoyable, but as a film, this could’ve been both tighter (135 minutes!) and deeper. 3.5 cats
 
(Sundance Film Festival 2021 premiere)”
The Sparks Brothers

One review for “The Sparks Brothers”

  • Diane Y.
    June 18, 2021 at 4:39 am
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    As someone who’d never heard of Sparks, I enjoyed the movie very much. Helmer Wright uses neatly done talking heads, concert footage, music videos, stop motion animation… There are very few moments (only seconds at a time) that the doc is not underlaid by a Sparks song. But can it honestly be so adulatory? The brothers are kind and have no drama between them. A wall in Russ’ house features an autographed photo of Ron. Overall a paean to the brothers’ integrity. As a music doc, right up there with “Anvil: The Story of Anvil.” Off now to listen to some of their (25) albums…. 4 cats.

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