The Sparks Brothers
Directed by Edgar Wright
★★★½
Edgar RR Cafe hero
(l to r.) Russell Mael, director Edgar Wright and Ron Mael from their film THE SPARKS
BROTHERS, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Jake Polonsky / Focus Features
Sparks is one of the most innovative, yet mysterious, pop bands of all time. Edgar Wright is one of the most creative directors working today. Put all those weird brains together, and you get a pretty zany, if somewhat overly congratulatory, documentary.
Since the late 60’s, Sparks has been genre bending the pop scene, constantly ahead of where the culture is in pop music at the time, and Wright makes sure that you know this. He stacks the film full of snippet interviews from people Sparks inspired, ranging from Taylor Swift’s longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff to Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. There's a lot of praise and some fun stories from very interesting people, but ultimately it ends up being a lot of talking heads like most other music documentaries, and I have to say, I expected a little bit more from Wright.
Wright has a knack for creating films that flow frenetically, and The Sparks Brothers does not feel as tight as his previous work, with a behemoth running time of 140 minutes. That is not to say that Wright's flair is altogether missing. Sewn throughout are some really beautifully animated sequences, depicting the brothers as they recount their past, as well as some reliably good comedic editing.
The brothers (Ron and Russel Mael) are surprisingly candid about their musical past, as they discuss their highs and lows. But its when we get to the lows that the film really gets nuanced. Sparks feels more grounded than most celebrities, even if they are one of the more outlandish acts out there.
Overall, The Sparks Brothers does a solid job at depicting, well, The Sparks Brothers. By its conclusion, we are left wondering why a band who paved the road for so many future pop stars and copycats (I’m looking at you Pet Shop Boys) is still so underrated today.
