Sound Mixing: 9/10
Development of Themes: 4/10
Schoolboy Giddiness: 7/10
What The Amps Go To: 11/10
The Bottom Line: Pornography for hardcore rock geeks makes for a just pretty good documentary for the casual music fan.
Shortly after the opening credits of It Might Get Loud finish rolling, we spend about five minutes listening to guitar players Jack White and The Edge talk about their differing pseudo-philosophies about the creative process. During this time, it's hard not to think about Nigel Tufnel from Spinal Tap (sorry, I don't know the html for an 'n' with an umlaut). Then, without saying anything, Jimmy Page picks up his Les Paul and plays "Ramble On," and we remember why we're watching this movie in the first place.
Disappointingly, that short sequence is representative of the whole movie, for which director David Guggenheim convinced these three real-life guitar heroes to jam together so that he could make a movie about it. There are incredible moments of rock'n'roll that keep us going, but they get bogged down by a whole lot of pretense in between. Most great rock docs focus on conflict within or amongst the artists. But Guggenheim, who was perfectly willing to challenge the world's energy conglomerates in An Inconvenient Truth, seems unwilling to challenge these musicians he obviously admires. Early on, it seems as though we're being set up for conflict as we hear Mr. White and Mr. ...Edge (seriously, dude, you're almost 50. It's time to start thinking about a last name) voice their opinions on technology. The latter thinks technology has always driven popular music forward and should be embraced, whereas the former thinks technology stifles creativity by making things too easy*. But, as far as we can tell, the two never opine on the matter in the same room; the conflict never gets developed. And if you're going to make a very talky documentary, you need to latch on to some themes and develop them fully.
Now, that's not to say that every rock doc has to be based around conflict. Scorsese's The Last Waltz is two hours of unadulterated hero worship, and it's my favorite concert film of all time. But note the ratio of music to talking in that film as compared to this one. The point is, Guggenheim could have made a good film without presenting his heroes in an unflattering light, but it would require a lot less talking and a lot more rocking than the film he in fact made.
I should say that, if you're a real music nerd like me, some of the archive gems that Guggenheim and his researchers find are priceless. There's the high school photos of Edge and Bono (and yes, Bono looks obnoxious even without designer sunglasses), there's the record Jack White recorded with his Master when he was an apprentice upholsterer. But the best one has to be the black & white footage from a 50's British talk show, in which the dorky pre-pubescent guitar player of a skiffle band tells the very straight-laced host his name is "James Page, sir."
Just to reiterate, there are some amazing music moments that even a casual rocker will love. There's something irresistibly charming about the schoolboy glee with which these three rockers talk about the people who inspired them. And, of course, for Edge and White, Page is one of those people. Neither of them say it explicitly, but the priceless looks on their faces when Page busts out the riff from "Whole Lotta Love" say it all.
And then, there's the truly inspired section when the three guitarists jam together on Zep's "In My Time of Dying." Guggenheim was smart enough to record each guitar track separately, and his sound mixer emphasizes each one individually as the camera moves around. And you can literally hear what each of them has said about his life and creative process reflected in his playing style. It is a truly great piece of music filmmaking. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie just isn't good enough to stay compelling throughout.
It Might Get Loud ends with Page, White, and Edge on acoustic guitars playing The Band's "The Weight." It's really fun to listen to, but you already know what my favorite movie involving that song is.
*Sidenote: I know why Guggenheim devoted a few minutes to this debate. Every filmmaker alive has felt this ambivalence at some point. Am I a worse editor because I take for granted being able to Command-Z a bad slice? Sometimes I honestly don't know.
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