Back to Black - Lacks That Spark And Passion To Tell Amy Winehouse's Story (Review With Timestamps)

Hello there! I'm Spike Knight and welcome to another Knight At The Movies podcast in which I discuss all things movies, TV or whatever I'm feeling like on the day I podcast.
And in this podcast I give my review of the Amy Winehouse musical biopic, Back to Black...
Chapters -
0:00 - Podcast Intro
1:15 - Back to Black Review (Amy Winehouse Fan?)
2:43 - 2 Main Reasons I Wasn't Excited For This Film (Reason 1)
4:32 - Reason 2
7:31 - Initial Thoughts
9:47 - Where It Fails
11:38 - Didn't Focus On The Music Making Enough
16:03 - Didn't Feel Anything At The End
16:56 - Informative For People Who Don't Know This Story?
17:40 - Don't Need To See This At The Cinema
19:20 - Believable Lead Performance
21:38 - Supporting Performances + Almost Great
24:05 - Doesn't Do a Good Job At Covering Her Life
26:22 - Nothing That Different Than Other Musical Biopics
27:09 - Didn't Paint The Paparazzi as Villains
28:12 - Overall - Didn't Feel Earned
32:21 - Final Thoughts - MISSING PASSION BEHIND IT!
33:53 - Outro
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[@MohammedAdwani]

That documentary was so accurate and so moving, made me cry my eyes out. The film wasn’t as exciting or interesting

[@twiglet2205]

She had a complicated relationship with her dad but he wasn't some abusive locust. There are plenty of accounts where it's very clear that while they're relationship could have been better they were very close.

[@padhmajaravichandar9077]

A very comprehensive review. Loved it!

[@knightatthemovies2707]

Thank you! My feedback is usually the opposite so much appreciated!

[@thepopfiles4294]

I avoided this film because of the poor reviews. Watched it this weekend and I’m not mad at it. I thought I needed the full run down, good bad and ugly. However I think what they produced, although ‘watered down’ was insightful enough to Amy and her struggles. I don’t think she’d ever be impressed with a movie about her life. But this wasn’t salacious or disrespectful. And I actually preferred that she sung in her own voice because it made me believe in her as Amy rather than distracted with the contrast in Marisa’s speaking tone and Amy’s tone.

[@KidaMilo89]

The movie was not accurate about a lot of things. I wouldn't recommend it to new fans. The documentary yes. I didnt like most of Marisa's covers. "Stronger Than Me" was autotuned

[@mads-Riley-Art]

Loved bohemian rhapsody and was excited for that because I was a major queen fan all the others I wasnt too excited about because I liked the other artists but didnt love them and like you said none of them did anything different. then back to black was announced and Iknew i had to go see it Amy is my favourite singer songwriter of all time but I knew i was gonna be apprehensive about it because it was either gonna go full in on her and she wouldve been disrespected or it was gonna be the opposite and was gonna be too vague and tip toe around important subjects. It turned out to be the latter It was too vague and too polite. It missed out important moments in her life, it missed out a lot of other important people in her life it romanticised blake too much, it was too respectful to mitch (who lets me honest doesnt paint himself in a great picture from interviews he has done) and to me it kind of painted Amy in a bad light that she was this helpless drug addict who refused to be helped which wasnt true amy got the help in the end and was on the recovery but she had one bad relapse which was unfortunately enough. They didnt capture her humour and wit enough if you look up interviews or tv apperances with her she was genuinely funny AF and yeah it didnt capture enough of her creating her songs and her craft. It was enjoyable but it just wasnt genuine enough and it felt like an attempt to cash in on her life story and she would've hated it as well

[@DavidJames-ro2bl]

The 2015 Documentary Amy, was not fully accurate. The documentary try’s to say that her father didn’t help her, but it’s pure lies! People around Amy tried to help on many occasions, there were interventions and conversations many times. Ultimately it was down to Amy, she was able to make her own choices as an adult. The documentary tried to portray a narrative that simply isn’t true. In the end Amy did get clean of drugs and was clean for 3 years, but alcohol was a big problem and it’s ultimately what cost Amy her life.

[@Colourful-Monochrome]

I swear you hear audio of her father in an interview in that documentary saying initially he felt she didn’t need to go to rehab. Eventually he tried to help her but not at first and that could have been crucial for her. Also he wasn’t a very good father when she was a child, he himself accepts this. And he brought cameras with him to St Lucia and you could see how uncomfortable that made her in the video footage but he did that for himself. Arguably yes of course being an addict is a self journey and something that the person needs to overcome ultimately within themselves but her father certainly didn’t help as much as he could and ultimately wasn’t the best father figure 🤷‍♀️

[@DavidJames-ro2bl]

@@Colourful-Monochrome Yes you do but it was taken out of context, Mitch actually went on to say that Amy didn’t need rehab in 2005 after she went out with a few friends and got drunk, her management suggested she enter rehab. That’s where that comment comes from, however it was edited out of the documentary to make it look like Mitch had said she didn’t need rehab at all. Many occasions Amy’s family held interventions to try and get her clean, but ultimately it was up to Amy. It’s also important to point out that Amy wasn’t on drugs for years, it was roughly a 6 month period while she was married to Blake. For 3 years before she died Amy was clean. In regards to the camera crew at St Lucia, Amy gave her dad permission to bring the camera crew with him, this was because he was filming a TV documentary about addiction. Again this wasn’t included in the documentary Amy. People did genuinely try to help Amy, but she wanted to do it on her own most of the time, she didn’t like therapists or Drs all that much. The last few months of her life she was actually trying to give up alcohol, however she went on a binge a few days before, it was one too many and tragically it took her life.

[@Colourful-Monochrome]

@@DavidJames-ro2bl Not sure what context you felt was missing? It is included in the documentary when Mitch changed his mind about rehab for Amy. I can’t find a source that says Amy gave her blessing for the ‘My daughter Amy’ documentary to be made but it is heavily implied (mostly from the opinions of people close to her) that she at least wasn’t happy about him bringing cameras to St Lucia. Even when on camera she looks very uncomfortable, you can’t really hide that. If you have a source you can link I’d be interested to see it. I notice that you didn’t mention anything about her childhood and how Mitch wasn’t a particularly good father figure in that time of her life. I’m assuming you agree with that part. I don’t think most people who have seen the documentary blame everyone close to her for her addiction and death. You can see a lot of friends were very supportive and tried to help her. Even friends who themselves suffered with addiction tried to help. Yes it is ultimately up to the addict to get clean but support from loved ones does help. Ultimately I don’t think there are any “pure lies”, as you put it, in the portrayal of her father. Respectfully, he wasn’t a good father and could have and should have done more to help her. When so many people who were close to her have the same negative opinion of him as a father, I do think it kind of speaks for itself despite the audio and footage that supports the view.

[@DavidJames-ro2bl]

@@Colourful-Monochrome we are talking about 2 separate times. Back in 2005 Mitch didn't think Amy needed rehab, but at a later date in 2007 he did. Amy wasn't taking drugs for any longer than 6 months, she was introduced to heroin by Blake. Mitch made a documentary on addiction, that's why he brought the camera crew to St Lucia. It wasn't for the My Amy documentary. There is an interview where Mitch said that Amy gave her permission for him to bring the film crew. As for Amy's childhood, again the documentary Amy from 2015 talks rubbish. Even tho Mitch split with Amy's mum, he was still around. This was highlited in the documentary on BBC Iplayer, which is a lot more reliable.

[@arikaelizenberry6877]

@@DavidJames-ro2bl Mitch was trying to make money of her. No serious parent will ignore their child having a problems, adult or not. He's a stage dad and she didn't give him permission to exploit her, rather, he used her fame to make more money from what she left. There are plenty of songs she wrote about the emotional damage her father caused, particularly his infidelity and leaving the family and not being a present father. Also, in case you've never heard the song "Rehab" Amy states, "I ain't got the time and if my daddy thinks I'm fine..." That's not out of context. Amy tells you in her own words that her dad said she didn't need it. She craved paternal validation. If someone escapes to an island with the intent to heal and relax, what makes you think they would want a camera crew following them around?