User Reviews

Just for the record : even though we're informed at the very beginning of the movie that it's based on a true story, everyone who knows even a tiny bit about the dance music and club scene would find it fishy. The producers even went so far and created a couple of web sites about Frankie Wilde to fool the audience and attract extra attention to the film. So now that we've got that Frankie Wilde is a fictional character out of the way, let's get to the movie itself. After a brief word of praise for Frankie Wilde coming out of the mouths of some of the biggest DJ's and celebs, we're introduced to the life of debauchery and excess of the Ibiza superstar DJ, our dear Frankie. He's married to a woman leading the lifestyle much alike his, has a stepson of a different race, likes to swing and do drugs and alcohol in enormous quantities. But he's still on top, untouchable, and still a magnet to thousands of White Island's clubbers. Story is told in a form of intersects from people close to Frankie : his manager, the book writer and some more celebs and DJ's, they make an assertion and we get to see the segment right after. So Frankie eventually goes deaf from years of noise exposure and subsequently his marriage wrecks, the club scene leaves him behind and he's forced to start a new life - free of drugs and excess, learning to read lips and finding true love in a form of his ( also deaf ) teacher. Wilde goes out at the top of his game as he'd learned to feel the vibrations of the music through his body instead of plain hearing instrument, his ears. He plays one more gig, makes a killer track and....disappears from the public eye. The astonishing fact about "It's all gone Pete Tong" is it's gripping message. As a former DJ myself who knows what club music was before and the state of it now I can only give praise to the makers of the movie because between the lines there is a subtle message to all the clubbers and DJ's, sort of going back to basics word. It's not about the drugs, not about the alcohol, press attention or fame but about being in a club, feeling the vibe, feeling the bass going through your body, giving you shivers - it's a feeling of togetherness. All of those outside factors brought the scene to the today's low, with dance music being ridiculed by "serious" music journalists, reporters and fans. The acting is excellent with Pete Kaye as a lead lighting up the screen fighting his addictions and inner demons and finally finding the life's true meaning. The rest of the cast is not that important but doesn't do any wrong. Screenplay is sharp and directing floaty and impressive. If you're into dance music, clubs or just like British humor with a load of cynicism, don't't miss "Tongy". It's not Human Traffic but is not so far from it either....

I cannot say that I have ever been a clubber, but I loved this film. It is less "Human Traffic" and more "Spinal Tap", perhaps even funnier than Tap. The plot concerns a superstar DJ on the Spanish island clubbing mecca of Ibeza, who becomes completely deaf after many years of excessive noise, drugs and general abuse. The mock-documentary charts both his decline and then his subsequent coming to terms with his "condition". It may not sound like a premise for comedy, but It's All Gone Pete Tong is often laugh-out loud hilarious. In particular, there is a sequence with the temporarily insane and desperate DJ involving fireworks and a swimming pool which manages to convey visual slapstick simultaneously with the very blackest of black comedy. I loved it. In short, this is destined to become a long term cult British movie, which may well prove to be a massive hit. I hope so. Oh, there's an unusual feelgood ending too. Go see it.

First things last, let me just clarify the fact that this film is based on a "fictional character" to quote the real DJ Pete Tong who was involved in the film - http://www.raves.com/features/show/23/Tong-video.htm. This link is to an interview with Pete about the movie.

What a fantastic movie - the best to come out of Britain for a while. Directed by the Canadian Micheal Dowse - this film operates on so many different levels and encourage you to like an character who does nothing but drink lots of whisky and snort lots of drugs! It opens on the Ibiza club scene - a fantastic DJ who can capture the crowd and make amazing music. But 11 years in the clubs take its effects on Frankie who goes completely deaf and hits a very hard place indeed. Here the film addresses some serious issues about coping with life changing disabilities, although the giant coke badger does make the scenes very funny. Frankie's struggle show the amazing acting abilities of Paul Kaye who delivers this film to the crowd. He eventually pulls himself together after a suicide attempt - another funny moment?! and meets a lip reader who he falls in love with.

Dowse uses humour to show the seriousness of the film and he does it well. I was pleasantly surprised walking out of the screen to feel entertained as I expected another low budget English film with poor humour and talentless actors. But Kaye deserves a big round of applause as this film would be nothing without his stunning acting to deliver this film.

I saw a free screening of It's All Gone Pete Tong last night. Though the trailer seemed to market it as a mockumentary, this ended up being a 2nd-rate junkie movie. now, I have to admit, I don't typically like junkie movies since I have little reason to care about characters who mess up their lives by getting addicted to blow...however, the main DJ character was presented as such a bumbling idiot with zero redeeming qualities from the beginning, that no one in the theater seemed to give a damn. 95% of the intended funny dialogue had zero response from the audience.

to break it down, this movie tried to be three things. in the first third, a mockumentary. the 2nd third, a junkie movie. the last third a sappy romance where everything works out in the end. it failed miserably at all of them.

my favorite part is when Frankie, the DJ, has this amazing revelation that he can match beats by sight using these animated waveforms which appear on his laptop screen. it seems as though everyone involved in this film has magically forgotten about the existence of BPM counters for the past 5+ years (most club DJ mixers already have them built-in these days). i also like how he straps his feet to a pair of subs to help him "feel the bass", when in actuality a sub's cabinet would be the last thing in the room to vibrate.

the only thing this film had going for it was the production quality. they did a good job of giving us the DJ's perspective and letting us hear what he hears while mixing records, though i never once saw a pitch control anywhere.

you'll probably check this out anyway just because it's about a club DJ but it's a real stinker. as the marketing people stood outside asking the audience how the movie was, most people didn't say anything.