For their final show (circa 1976) The Band assembled an all-star cast of musicians and had Martin Scorcese film the event. The results are at times brilliant and at times tiresome.
Considering that Scorcese was in the director's chair it's no surprise that the direction is better than you would normally expect for a concert film. The only exception is the Muddy Waters performance which, due to a miscommunication, was lucky to have been caught on film at all.
The music of The Band (and their guests) may not be to everyone's taste but if you're a fan then you won't be disappointed, at least by The Band's performances. On the other hand, Neil Diamond is out of place, Van Morrison over-sings terribly on his own "Caravan" and some of the other performances are comparatively lackluster. The most interesting thing, for me, was discovering that Robbie Robertson is underrated as a guitarist.
The documentary segments are interesting but the studio performances don't come close to matching the fervor of the live performances. The two-hour running time is a little disconcerting as well, considering that there are bound to be at least a handful of performances that you won't enjoy as much as the others. In my case, most of my favorite performances are over before the halfway point.
Considering that Scorcese was in the director's chair it's no surprise that the direction is better than you would normally expect for a concert film. The only exception is the Muddy Waters performance which, due to a miscommunication, was lucky to have been caught on film at all.
The music of The Band (and their guests) may not be to everyone's taste but if you're a fan then you won't be disappointed, at least by The Band's performances. On the other hand, Neil Diamond is out of place, Van Morrison over-sings terribly on his own "Caravan" and some of the other performances are comparatively lackluster. The most interesting thing, for me, was discovering that Robbie Robertson is underrated as a guitarist.
The documentary segments are interesting but the studio performances don't come close to matching the fervor of the live performances. The two-hour running time is a little disconcerting as well, considering that there are bound to be at least a handful of performances that you won't enjoy as much as the others. In my case, most of my favorite performances are over before the halfway point.