The first half of the movie is great. It documents a slummy old studio that produced some of the greatest music ever, in part because of a finely crafted analog audio mixer. Director Dave Grohl interviews some big names, who have great stories from this little studio. This is what the entire film should have been.
But maybe halfway through, everything changes. Suddenly Grohl goes from interviewer (often times on camera conducting the interviews) to the interviewee. He's the director, so is he interviewing himself? Usually in documentaries, the crew documents something without getting involved. Here, he's feeding himself soundbites for the movie he's making. Keanu Reeve's role in Side By Side, about digital filmmaking, is a good example of how it's supposed to be done. This just seems like as a filmmaker, he decided he's not getting what he needed, so he jumped in front of the camera to do it himself.
The last half hour forgets about Sound City and just becomes Grohl making a movie about himself looking good and recording music. He buys the soundboard from Sound City and starts his own studio, where he and his bandmates bring in big names and play with them (are you required to play with Grohl if you record at his studio?). One song cuts between Grohl rocking out on guitar, and Grohl behind the glass banging his head to what's being recorded. The song ends with him declaring, "That was f'ing awesome. That was so f'ing beautiful." He might as well write his own reviews for the film too.
This documentary starts out strong, but slowly rolls downhill into one big Dave Grohl self-congratulation. If you're interested in the history of Sound City and the evolution from analog to digital music recording, there is some good info in here. You just have to separate it from all the times Grohl is telling you how great he is.
But maybe halfway through, everything changes. Suddenly Grohl goes from interviewer (often times on camera conducting the interviews) to the interviewee. He's the director, so is he interviewing himself? Usually in documentaries, the crew documents something without getting involved. Here, he's feeding himself soundbites for the movie he's making. Keanu Reeve's role in Side By Side, about digital filmmaking, is a good example of how it's supposed to be done. This just seems like as a filmmaker, he decided he's not getting what he needed, so he jumped in front of the camera to do it himself.
The last half hour forgets about Sound City and just becomes Grohl making a movie about himself looking good and recording music. He buys the soundboard from Sound City and starts his own studio, where he and his bandmates bring in big names and play with them (are you required to play with Grohl if you record at his studio?). One song cuts between Grohl rocking out on guitar, and Grohl behind the glass banging his head to what's being recorded. The song ends with him declaring, "That was f'ing awesome. That was so f'ing beautiful." He might as well write his own reviews for the film too.
This documentary starts out strong, but slowly rolls downhill into one big Dave Grohl self-congratulation. If you're interested in the history of Sound City and the evolution from analog to digital music recording, there is some good info in here. You just have to separate it from all the times Grohl is telling you how great he is.