David Essex stars in the first of two films about Jimmy Maclaine, a young man who wants to be a rock star. Here we follow Maclaine as his father comes home from the war, leaves his family and Maclaine grows up, running away from home as a teen to make his future in the world, first by the sea, then at a holiday camp and finally in a carnival. Eventually he returns home to start his own family. Slice of life in late 50's early 60's as rock music was shaking everything up and the post war kids were looking for a way out. I had always heard this was the better of the two Maclaine films (Stardust being the second) but I wasn't really impressed. For what ever reason I couldn't really connect with what was happening on screen. Perhaps I was waiting for something the film isn't, the sequel charts Maclaine's rise and fall as a pop star, so I was waiting for a music film instead of a family drama and character study (come on you have Ringo Starr, Keith Moon and Dave Edmunds in the cast don't you think it'll be a music film?). On some level it made watching the sequel better, but ultimately it wasn't something I need to see again. You may feel differently since the film isn't bad, just one that I didn't connect to.
Review of That'll Be the Day
