Review of Pearl Jam Twenty (2011) by Lora N — 20 Sep 2011

If you are a Pearl Jam, you'll totally enjoy this movie. Pearl Jam was the soundtrack for so many of my adventures my last year of high school and first year of college. I remember listening to Ten in the car with the guys on my way to debate tournaments senior year. I remember driving around the Detroit suburbs with Mike E and Mike Schiller on a weekend escape freshman year of college with a bunch of high school kids blasting Vs all night long.

The film takes you on a journey through the pre-PJ days, the seattle music scene, the rise of grunge, the highlights, and lowlights. There is tons of great behind the scenes and concert footage. One of the best clips was when you actually watch right before your eyes the transformation of Eddie Vedder from this shy guy hiding behind a mop of hair to this openly emotional performer using his voice to express his anger, dismay and sadness.

But as much as I enjoy the film, it doesn't provide much for the non-fan. It is a sharp contrast from the Tribe documentary which told a story that resonated with people who never listened to Tribe or any hip hop for that matter but still provided enough stuff for the hard core fans.

I guess the biggest frustration I share with critics of this film is it lacked a certain level of depth. There was a lot of focus at the beginning of the film on how the the death of Andy Wood played a huge role in shifting attitudes of the band. Then there was a lot about the shadow cast by Vedder's discovery about his real dad. And of course there was the death of Kurt Cobain. But it didn't seem like Crowe was really able to get the members of the band to open up beyond the emotions they had already shared in the lyrics of their songs. You got bits and pieces of the personality of each band member but never a full portrait of anyone other than Eddie. Crowe hinted at inevitable tension toward Eddie and the distance he put between himself and the rest of the band but you never got a cohesive picture of how those divergent personalities come together to maintain a steady course of success.

Cameron Crowe's depiction seemed completely dismissive of any criticism of the band, even more so than the band itself. I wish Crowe would realize that part of the appeal for the audience is the connection you feel when the band you love occasionally touches the ground and walks on earth with the rest of us. But this film kept them firmly planting in the sky with the stars.