It Might Get Loud : Review

It seems that rock documentaries have been few and far between lately with major movie studios focusing on the clichéd biopic or the bloated live film.    Director Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth) seeks to remedy that with his latest film, “It Might Get Loud.” Guggenheim’s “It Might Get Loud” focuses on three musicians whose careers have redefined what an electric guitar should be able to accomplish in rock music.  Guggenheim’s selection for these musicians represents the Sixties (Jimmy Page), the Seventies-Eighties (The Edge) and the Nineties-Present (Jack White). Throughout the film these three prove insight as to why they chose the guitar and how their lives and careers helped shape their sound.  What’s telling though is that with the exception of Jimmy Page, the other subjects of this documentary prove themselves to be lightweight fluff.

As the film begins, Guggenheim decides to stroke White’s ego a bit by showing the self-proclaimed bluesman and possible inventor of rock and roll creating a guitar in a tool shed on a farm.  While Jack White is a technically proficient guitarist, the viewer learns nothing new about him and the film only serves to further fuel and mythologize his career.  The amount of pretentiousness that White exudes is embarrassing almost to the point of “Rattle and Hum” levels as he places himself among the great bluesmen who have come before.  Jack White also gets the luxury (?) of having some of “The Song Remains The Same” filmic elements as an actor plays the younger White during a trip into the South.  There’s also an overblown and highly dramatic scene with the Raconteurs where White seemingly plays his guitar until his fingers bleed.  This scene is laughable and irritating all the same and almost made me want to turn off the DVD.

Had I turned the DVD off, I would have missed the story of Jimmy Page who comes across as one of the most humble of these three rock legends.  Page’s career is given a thorough examination and documents his work as a session man through his Yardbirds stint and ultimately the major focus is on his career with Led Zeppelin.  The intimate portrait this paints of Page is stunning and makes me wish that he were the sole focus of the documentary.  Highlights of the Page section include a look at Jimmy’s record collection and the demonstrations of Page’s wicked ability to still maintain his chops.  Page’s earnest personality endeared him  to me and demonstrated just one of the many reasons why he is so revered as there simply was no pretense about his playing or his career, which is what I wish I could have said about The Edge.

The Edge almost acquits himself of being an arrogant rock star but he reveals too much of his playing ability or lack thereof.  The Edge basically states that he has spent an entire career playing two notes and having hundreds of thousands of dollars of guitar effects.  Surprisingly there’s no more depth to the Edge’s style or prowess than his effects unit as he displays the most rudimentary of chops of the three superstars.  The Edge’s history is told again with the guitar hero recalling all of U2’s greatness while previewing the lousy “Get On Your Boots” throughout the film.  There’s a priceless scene when he plays the naked riff from “I Will Follow” to Jimmy Page and Jack White who both look at him like, “…and you’ve made a career of this, haven’t you? lucky bastard.”

What’s interesting about this film is the fact that Guggenheim encouraged his subjects to jam and noodle about in between the interviews and history lessons.  In each of these sessions, Page proves himself to be the master while The Edge is depicted as the student.  Jack White seems to be taking notes from Page’s playing and also seems to instruct The Edge on the proper way of playing a guitar which could be perceived to be hilarious in some circles.  “It Might Get Loud” is a well made film that would have been a great film had they axed a couple of the guitarists.  I’ll let you guess which ones.

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