classicsoncall Review of Hendrix

Hendrix (2000 TV Movie)

"You're the monster guitar that can pull it off, right?"

[7/10 · 30 July 2016]

I guess by reading most of the other reviewers here I'm supposed to hate this flick, but by and large I thought it was a decent one. The picture focuses in on just the last five or six years of Jimi's life, basically corresponding to his rise as a rock star from very humble beginnings. Usually these stories take a great deal of liberty in the telling, and I don't know if everything here was a hundred percent as represented on screen. One bit of trivia that I thought was interesting was the inclusion of Hendrix opening for The Monkees, one usually doesn't see or hear of that mentioned in other treatments. In the 1973 documentary "Jimi Hendrix", the artist was depicted as being somewhat insecure and easily manipulated by agents and members of his entourage. In this film, whenever actor Wood Harris voiced Hendrix's opinions on matters like race relations and violence, it appeared to come from a well reasoned position held firmly in belief. So the dichotomy was readily apparent between the two films. As far as the music goes, I would have liked to see more of it. Others have stated that all of the efforts here were not original Hendrix tunes, but for the casual fan I don't know that it would make a difference. For most, I would think Jimi himself expressed it best - "Music doesn't lie".