Movie Reviews

Okay, I'm now pretty certain that the secret to remaining young has something to do with playing music. That's really the feeling that I got from Standing in the Shadows of Motown. There's no question that most of the guys profiled in this documentary are rather old, but watching them play during a recent "reunion" performance, it was totally amazing to see how much fun they were having, and how obvious it was that they felt younger when they were playing.

Standing in the Shadows of Motown is about a band known as The Funk Brothers, who were responsible for more than 75 hit singles (mostly during the 50's and 60's)... that's actually more hit singles than was produced by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, and Elvis Presley combined. About half of the film involves documentary footage and interviews with the surviving members of The Funk Brothers, as they talk about their song-writing methods, difficulties with studios, and amusing stories about each other. The other half involves The Funk Brothers reuniting for a concert, along with a variety of singers including Ben Harper, Montell Jordan, Chaka Khan, and Joan Osborne.

The concert footage is really amazing. I was never too familiar with what "motown music" really was, but I think almost everyone has actually heard quite a lot of it (songs like "My Girl", "I Heard it Through the Grapevine", etc.). I guess I never really paid much attention to those songs, but after seeing this movie, I think it's fair to say I've developed a much larger appreciation for the music and (especially) the musicians. It's really great stuff (I'll probably pick up the soundtrack!).

If you're at all interested in motown music (or even just music in general), and you want to see a movie about how music gets made -- and the musicians involved -- you should definitely check this out.