Review of 20 Feet from Stardom (2013) by Lewis E — 08 Apr 2014

After becoming fully submerged in the Seaworld controversy shown in 'Blackfish', I decided to try watch another critically acclaimed documentary from 2013. Maybe it was the content, or perhaps my brain felt like I had alreay met my documentary quota for the day, but I never became fully engrossed in '20 feet from Stardom'.

The story of these backup singers whose talents transcended the role to which they were often confined to has its interesting moments such as when seeing how certain singers had a hand in multiple hit records without proper recognition or how their solo careers struggled to flourish.

I also liked how singers showcased their incredible voices for the documentary. Audiences will feel like they are getting a unique experience rather than purely archive footage or generic interviews. However, I felt like everything the documentary had to say could have been said in less time.

Furthermore, I lacked a strong connection to the source material since it concentrated on 70s soul/rock 'n' roll music. Older audiences who were fans of popular music in this era would have more appreciation.

I kept drifting in and out, sometimes quite interested but other times thinking I was 20 seconds from boredom. Nonetheless, I left this with more awareness and appreciation of backup singers in the music industry and, in that sense, the documentary served a purpose.