I think a lot of critics are going to pull
themselves out of shape trying to relate the film to the actual
career of David Bowie. Todd evokes Bowie big-time. But not the
"real" Bowie -- or even the stage Bowie. Rather this is
the Bowie that his fans *dreamed* about. Bowie was never as
sexually *available* as Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The rock videos he
confects for him (particularly the one where he slithers across
the floor in a head-to-toe snake green and glitter ensemble) is
better than any rock video I've ever seen, bar none. The music,
by contrast, is relatively subdued.
I'm trying not to spoil to much for those who have yet to see it,
but suffice to say the "play" is not the thing. It's
the "playing." And by that I don't mean the actors, who
are largely props. In fact when Brian Slade (Rhys Meyers) and
Curt Wild (Ewan Mcgregor) confess their love for one another,
Todd stages it with Ken dolls instead of the actors! This is a
giant Fuck you to Richard carpenter, who has successfully blocked
Todd's "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" from
*ever* being publically exhibited. Forget the NEA. Forget Jesse
Helms. Forget Mapplethorpe and Karen Findley. Can you think of
ANY major artist whose most important early work has been *banned
outright* in such a fashion?
Toni Collette gives one of the best performancs
I've seen all year as Slade's wife Mandy. The scene where she's
thrown out of her own house is a classic and should be studied
carefully by anyone who's seriously considering acting as a
career. *This* is how it's done: the hard way. Eddie Izzard is
excellent as the manager who turns Slade from a minor sensation
into a major star. Ewan Mcgregor is adorable as always -- with a
recording room breakdown scene that's right up there with Natalie
Wood in "Inside Daisy Clover." And Christian Bale does
wonders with the really difficult role of Arthur -- the reporter
assigned to get the "Whatever Happened to Brian Slade?"
story, but is paralyzed by his own memories of the period. It's
the best recounting of coming out since "L'Homme
Blesse."
