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matthewdavies2000
Reviews
Take It or Leave It (1981)
Strange film
This was a funny old film...I only glanced at it in a bargain bin where I bought it from and thought it was a documentary of the band from more recent times. However once I put it on it was truly baffling without any background context - at first I thought it was a documentary filmed at the actual time of them getting together (which would have been pretty amazing for a unheard of working class band in 1976 but not so nowadays with wall to wall "pop reality" shows). Then I thought for a while it was filmed now (i.e post 2000) and them playing themselves back then. Then I realised that it was actually a film of them in 1981 reenacting how they got together 3/4 years previously. Anyway the oddness of the concept aside....the acting is terrible and I think that adds to the "is this a documentary or a film ?" puzzle. But the true best bits for Madness fans are the gigs they perform in various London pubs - absolutely quality and guaranteed to get you moon-stomping around the front room. If you want an intellectual film about Madness and their vaudevillian contribution to the pop canon then this ain't it but if you want raw Madness "going off" in some packed London boozers then this is for you.