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Hendrix (2000)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
2/25
2/25:
Never underestimate the power of editing.
That's how Hendrix was saved; otherwise, it would've been an ordinary made-for-TV picture. The director takes
the classic Bob Fosse approach to tell the story of Jimi Hendrix's rise and fall. Most of it is accurate,
if encyclopedic, in terms of recounting the events, but there's so much more to tell. What's left out is
that he abused drugs and alcohol to the extreme and, as a result, was an angry, violent person.
I remember Wood Harris as Julius from Remember the Titans. He has
done a fine job here although it's tough to capture Jimi Hendrix's personality. Yeah, that's not his music being
played; they're just covers, probably because of the estate's refusal to sell rights for them to be used in the
film. Also, the look is too modern to pass for the late 60's.
Chas Chandler of the Animals was pretty much responsible for molding Jimi Hendrix into a superstar which began in
1966. Michael Jeffery also existed and died in a plane crash in 1973 at age 39. He simply stole almost all of
Jimi Hendrix's income by funneling it to offshore bank accounts. There's a longstanding rumor that Michael
Jeffery killed Jimi Hendrix in 1970 by supplying him with pills and wine so he could collect the insurance money.
It's true, which isn't commonly known, that many music bands, famous and not, were milked by their managers and had
been worked so hard to the bone. Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones once said, "In the early days, you got paid
absolutely nothing. I'll never forget the deals I did in the '60s, which were just terrible. You say,
'Oh, I'm a creative person, I won't worry about this.' But that just doesn't work. Because everyone would
just steal every penny you've got."
All in all, if you're interested in Jimi Hendrix, Hendrix is a good start, but you'll get far
ahead by reading his biographies.