BIG STAR: NOTHING CAN HURT ME (Drew DiNicola, Olivia Mori). 113 minutes. Opens Friday (July 4). For venues and times, see listings. Rating: NNNN
For a band that made such exhilarating music, the story of Big Star is just so goddamn depressing.
Formed in Memphis by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell in 1971, the band released two albums featuring music of such complexity, artistry and exuberance that they should have been dubbed the next Beatles. But no one bought their first album, #1 Record, and the acquisition of Big Star’s imprint by Columbia saw the second, Radio City, shelved before it could even be shipped.
Released as a double album in the UK, the records were substantial hits and influenced a generation of popsters. Eventually, the music made it back to America and caught on with the likes of R.E.M. and the Flaming Lips.
Drew DiNicola and co-director Olivia Mori do their best to give Big Star the recognition they deserved while not backing away from the complicated lives of Chilton and Bell.
Chilton, who started as a teenager with the Box Tops and had a massive hit with The Letter, had an ambivalent relationship with success that meant he’d reflexively torpedo any opportunity that came his way, and Bell’s issues with alcohol and sex derailed his own creativity, though he did deliver a masterwork, the single I Am The Cosmos.
The filmmakers cover decades of false starts and tragic endings through interviews with the band’s friends and family and copious archival footage.
And then there’s the glorious music, which in the end is all that really matters.
