Standing in the Shadows of Motown: Movie Review, DVD Review (2002)
9/21/2007 Posted by Admin
Emerging into the light (Originally published 2002)
Directed by Paul Justman, written by Walter Dallas and Ntozake Shange, 108 minutes, rated PG.
It goes without saying that Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder--among so many others--wouldn't have had their string of hits with Motown if it weren't for that defining Motown sound.
But who were the musicians behind that sound? Berry Gordy might see it otherwise, but he didn’t pull it off alone. Indeed, Paul Justman's new documentary, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," based on Allan Slutsky’s book, is betting that few know how much a handful of others were instrumental in creating that sound.
He might be right. Since it’s generally the voice behind a song that gets the attention and not those in the band, chances are many haven't heard of the Funk Brothers, a group of black and white artists who, between the late ‘50s and the early ‘70s, cranked out more No. 1 hits than the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beach Boys combined.
That’s 58 No. 1 hits. Songs like "Heat Wave," "My Girl," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and "What’s Going On?," to name a few.The film, from a script by Walter Dallas and Ntozake Shange, reaches back to the early years of the Detroit jazz musicians Gordy snapped up for a song, so to speak, and hired to create music for his new label, Motown.
Those musicians, some of whom are alive--Jack Ashford, Uriel Jones, Eddie Willis, Joe Hunter, Robert White, Bob Babbitt and Joe Messina—and some of whom have died--Johnny Griffith, Benny Benjamin, Eddie Brown, James Jamerson, Richard Allen, Robert White and Earl Van Dyke—are finally given their due in a film that dramatizes their early years, interviews the living and gathers together for a final concert all of the surviving members.
Joining them on stage are such singers as Chaka Khan, Bootsy Collins, Joan Osborne, Gerald Levert, Ben Harper and Meshell Ndegeocello, all of whom spark the film with rousing performances of Funk Brothers’ hits.
While the film’s dramatizations are sometimes cheesy, not unlike something you’d find on the History Channel, and the film lacks the completeness of an interview with Gordy himself, which would have given the movie added depth and lifted it to the level of "The Buena Vista Social Club," "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" is nevertheless entertaining and important.
It puts these men squarely in the spotlight that has eluded them for years.
Grade: B+
Directed by Paul Justman, written by Walter Dallas and Ntozake Shange, 108 minutes, rated PG.
It goes without saying that Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Temptations, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder--among so many others--wouldn't have had their string of hits with Motown if it weren't for that defining Motown sound.
But who were the musicians behind that sound? Berry Gordy might see it otherwise, but he didn’t pull it off alone. Indeed, Paul Justman's new documentary, "Standing in the Shadows of Motown," based on Allan Slutsky’s book, is betting that few know how much a handful of others were instrumental in creating that sound.
He might be right. Since it’s generally the voice behind a song that gets the attention and not those in the band, chances are many haven't heard of the Funk Brothers, a group of black and white artists who, between the late ‘50s and the early ‘70s, cranked out more No. 1 hits than the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis and the Beach Boys combined.
That’s 58 No. 1 hits. Songs like "Heat Wave," "My Girl," "I Heard it Through the Grapevine," "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and "What’s Going On?," to name a few.The film, from a script by Walter Dallas and Ntozake Shange, reaches back to the early years of the Detroit jazz musicians Gordy snapped up for a song, so to speak, and hired to create music for his new label, Motown.
Those musicians, some of whom are alive--Jack Ashford, Uriel Jones, Eddie Willis, Joe Hunter, Robert White, Bob Babbitt and Joe Messina—and some of whom have died--Johnny Griffith, Benny Benjamin, Eddie Brown, James Jamerson, Richard Allen, Robert White and Earl Van Dyke—are finally given their due in a film that dramatizes their early years, interviews the living and gathers together for a final concert all of the surviving members.
Joining them on stage are such singers as Chaka Khan, Bootsy Collins, Joan Osborne, Gerald Levert, Ben Harper and Meshell Ndegeocello, all of whom spark the film with rousing performances of Funk Brothers’ hits.
While the film’s dramatizations are sometimes cheesy, not unlike something you’d find on the History Channel, and the film lacks the completeness of an interview with Gordy himself, which would have given the movie added depth and lifted it to the level of "The Buena Vista Social Club," "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" is nevertheless entertaining and important.
It puts these men squarely in the spotlight that has eluded them for years.
Grade: B+
October 1, 2008 at 12:39 PM
I have seen this film and it was "outstanding" to say the least. The music and performances by these super talented people deserves an A+!