Review of The Last Waltz

This review is going to appear lower than what I say here. I like The Band. I love the variety of genres that are in their mix of rock. Blues, gospel, country, bluegrass, folk and jazz are all apparent in their sound. I've heard how good of a rock documentary this is (and how much of it was used as inspiration for the film "This is Spinal Tap") so I was looking forward to watching this. Instead, what you get is the Robbie Robertson ego trip, a film he made against the wishes of his fellow band members, in order to launch his career in Hollywood. That's why, while this is suppose to be a "farewell show", it never feels that way. Instead, it feels like a band at a crossroads with one of their key members ready to call it a day with the others ready to continue on. Levon Helm would confirm all of this in future interviews where he stated he was upset about the film.

So what's good about the film?

• The music is solid and well done. You can't complain about that. - Some of the guests hit it out of the park (Muddy Waters and Joni Mitchell in particular are outstanding) - The cinematography is gorgeous

What I don't like:

• The focus on Robbie as the "leader" is wrong. The Band was always a very democratic unit where all members were on equal footing. This film makes it seem like Robbie was the leader and the other members the sidemen. Kind of like what happened to Sting and the Police, Phil Collins and Genesis, Peter Cetera and Chicago, etc. This had a biased edit in place. - The inter spicing of concert footage with some "studio" performances was clunky and odd at times. Why, if the focus was the farewell concert, was it necessary to have closed studio performances? Seemed oddly out of place - Some of the guests seemed there to collect a paycheck and leave. Neil Young looked atrocious. Van Morrison seemed like he'd rather be anywhere else. - The interviews are pretty basic and insignificant - The boozyness and cocaine haze is scattered all over the place. I know drugs are a part of "rock and roll" but it gets a bit much after a while. It gets hard to take them seriously. - The conflict between Robbie and the others permeates throughout the film. One guy is ready to call it a day, the other four are not, and it's pretty obvious.

Overall, it's a good film, but not this legendary thing that many make it out to be. I love good rock music, and The Band had good music, but the pedestal this film continually gets placed on is somewhat undeserved. Watch it for context, but understand the flaws as well.