ironhorse_iv Review of Madonna: Truth or Dare

Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)

Not only is there little truth in Madonna's blockbuster concert documentary film. The film is also very obnoxious & annoying. Not a great watch

[5/10 · 2 December 2015]

While, I do like some of Madonna's music, and can easily tune in to them. This controversial, no-holds-barred concert film about singer Madonna's 1990 Blond Ambition tour, was still a hard watch for me. The reasons why, is because I'm not a huge fan of her personal life and how she performs her music. There just way too much sleaziness when it comes to her act, and not enough professionalism or class. This film directed by Alex Keshishain kinda shows that. The film is cut into two main sequences: the stage performances which was filmed in color and the behind-the-scenes footage filmed in black and white. Without spoiling the movie, too much, I found the concert scenes to be in great quality. It was bright, well-shot, and had great sound. The tour was way ahead of its time, featuring innovative music like 'Vogue' & 'Express Yourself', tour-de-force dance moves, and magnificent sets such as the one that looks like 1927's Fritz Lang's film, Metropolis & Warren Beatty 1990's Dick Tracy. Then, there was the dazzling costumes designed by French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier. The most famous design from the show, being the fame conned bra. For the most part, the concert looks entertaining. However, the MTV style of editing of the footage, the lip-synching, and her juxtaposition of Catholic iconography and sexuality is somewhat alarming and shady. The backstage footage are the scenes, I really hate from this film. All of the backstage stuff was a little too grainy with the black and white visuals. It had very lousy sound, so you can't really figure out, what people are truly saying. Plus, the guerrilla style of filmmaking is really hard to watch, with all the awkward camera movements, and quick pans. Not only that; but Madonna really comes across, as a self-centered diva. I get that she's very narcissistic and an attention whore, but her ugliness is peeping more than her likability, here. There are two scenes that really made me hate the person, behind the music, and those scenes are her lack of reaction when she hears that one of her makeup staff was given a date-rape drug and sodomized. The other is when, she try to seduce a married man, while yelling at her crew. Wow! Just Wow! This can't be, good for her career. I can care less, about her infamous Fellatio scene with a glass bottle, or her inviting her dancers, and backup singers, for a little bedtime. Those scenes were a less more cringe-worthy to watch, than the two examples above. Madonna got backlash for her awful treatment of her crew, as three of the Blond Ambition dancers, Oliver Crumes, Kevin Stea, and Gabriel Trupin, filed a lawsuit against her. The suit claimed that the singer had invaded her dancers' privacy during the filming of Truth or Dare, as well as charging her with fraud and deceit, intentional misrepresentation, suppression of fact, and intentional infliction of emotional distress for displaying the men's private lives in the documentary. In October 1994, after more than two years of litigation, the suit was withdrawn and an undisclosed settlement was reached. Still, the movie did try to paint, Madonna in a good light as well. Scenes like her, visiting her mother's grave, or her trying to reconnect with her stubborn father were somewhat emotional, but it totally get overlook by the notorious bad moments in this film. One thing that I did like about this documentary is how, they were able to show the stresses that come with, a musical tour, such as injuries, bad press, bad weather, and technical sound problems. There were some intense moments, that were kinda interesting, such as the scene, where the catholic associations called for a boycott of the show in Rome or the scene in Toronto, where the police threatened to arrest Madonna for lewd acts. Then there was the infamous scenes where she totally misses, actor Kevin Costner's sense of humor and mocks him behind his back. I really didn't mind, all the celebrities cameos in this, but one truly stood out from the rest. I love Warren Beatty's calling out Madonna's phoniness in the film, saying how this was clearly not the real Madonna, it's the Madonna on camera, and she is playing for them. I truly do believe him. Some of the scenes are pretty clearly staged, others are clearly orchestrated by the director instead of occurring naturally. This was an issue some critics back then had with the movie: how much of this was really real, and how much of it isn't. Madonna is painfully aware of the camera at all times; they don't even try to hide that fact. That said, there are parts where it does seem like we're seeing a real Madonna in there somewhere. She gets tense and scared before shows, she holds prayers right before her very sacrilegious concerts. She genuinely cares about her band and dancers, sometimes. However, with 250 hours of film of Madonna, Director Alek Keshishian clearly see that her bad sides outlives her goods. In 2005, Madonna produced another documentary, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, which followed her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour. It was filmed and narrated in the same style as Truth or Dare, with stage performances filmed in color and behind-the-scenes in black and white. It wasn't as famous as this movie, due to the fact, that sexuality in music isn't as taboo as it was, then & Madonna has somewhat calm down, due to her age. Overall: There was only one movie that was ever gonna serve Madonna well, and that was a movie whom whose subject matter was Madonna. So if I had to sadly, recommend only one Madonna movie, I'd make it Truth or Dare, but just note, that it's a watch that is somewhat annoying and offensive to watch.