Backbeat (1994)

Despite excellent performances by Dorff and Ian Hart, this film is a horrible melange of poor screen writing and a lack of any desire for historical accuracy. It is a horrendous misrepresentation of Sutcliffe and Lennon, and Ian Soiftley seems determined to just fill each scene with angry shouting and pointless and senseless actions to cover up the lack of character development and the lack of any reasoning for the characters' behaviors. The characters come across as the most superficial of clichés and stereotypes. One should avoid this film entirely for it is slanderous and superficial, despite being about some of the most complex and fascinating people in the history of music. The saddest thing being that people will see this film thinking it is an accurate portrayal of the people whose lives the film is based upon, and the deep and complex relationship that Sutcliffe and Lennon actually had in real life, but the inaccuracies abound. Spoiler Alert: The film shows an entirely fabricated scene that has absolutely no basis in fact whatsoever, in which Sutcliffe in a jealous rage attacks a platonic male friend of his girlfriend, Astrid. I have done research on this, and there is no basis in fact whatsoever and in truth, both Lennon and Harrison have been quoted in stating how gentle and nonviolent Sutcliffe was. This is just one of the many scenes that seem to indicate that the screenwriters just wanted to cash in by making a film about the Beatles without any true research, and to just fill each scene with as much violence and rock and roll as they could to make up for the mindless screen writing. The film limps to its closure without the viewer having any idea why any of the characters said or did anything that was played out in the film. Lennon comes across as a whiny, angry, homophobic mess, and Sutcliffe comes across as a moody jerk with no emotional depth or logic. Given the subject matter, this could have been quite a film. For a much more accurate and riveting film about Lennon and Sutcliffe, view the made for TV movie titled "Lennon."

We all know who The Beatles was. But not everybody knows how many more played in the band before their big breakthrough in 1961. This film tells the story of one of them, Stu Sutcliffe, best friend of Lennon at that time and a tragic figure. It is a sensitive piece without a doubt and a decent homage to the beginnings of the world's most popular band, but Stephen Dorff as Sutcliffe is pretty horrible, his overacting almost painful to watch. Unfortunately, his performance ruined a lot for me which is the film's greatest pity, because Sutcliffe was an interesting character. He came to the band in 1960 as bass player after Lennon wheedled him into. While staying almost exclusively in Hamburg, Sutcliffe met the German photographer Astrid Kirchherr (who was also the inspiration for the famous haircuts) and fell in love with her. He neglected the duties of being a band member, concentrated on painting instead and spent his time with Astrid whereupon McCartney fired him. So, Sutcliffe accepted within a blink and said that the band is not going to become famous anyway. You bet. However, Dorff was definitely the wrong choice for the role.

I really enjoyed this film, but I just had a little trouble with the music. It was truly terrific, but Dave Pirner sounds nothing like Paul McCartney by any stretch of the imagination, nor does Greg Dulli sound anything remotely like John Lennon. I thought it was great that they used such well-known and talented musicians as Thurston Moore and Dave Grohl, but couldn't they have found somebody that sounded a little bit more like Lennon and McCartney? Ok, enough about that. I didn't know the whole story about Stuart Sutcliffe, and I had no idea that *SPOILER* he died. That was awful. But I really enjoyed learning more about one of my favorite bands, especially since I completely missed out on their heyday. (John Lennon died about six months before I was born! Oh, the agony!) I really didn't know much about the early days of the band, so this movie was very informative. I thought all the actors looked incredibly like their real-life counterparts. I had already see Ian Hart portray Lennon in The Hours and the Times, so I knew his characterization of Lennon was awesome, and made me enjoy his performance in Backbeat all the more. I highly recommend this film to all Beatles fans and anyone interested in rock 'n' roll history.

Softley's 'Backbeat' is my favorite movie I've ever seen. I'm a huge Beatles fan and I've watched many biographical films about The Fab Four like 'Birth of Beatles' for example, and I must admit that this production from 1993 is the best of them all. This picture shows us the Hamburg's episode (early 60s) of Beatles career and it concentrates on relationship between John Lennon (fantastic play by Ian Hart) and Stuart Sutcliffe (aka The Lost Beatle). Lots of laughs, lots of tears and above all - great music ! A must seen for Beatles fans.