I’ve signed up to LoveFilm in an attempt to cut down the amount of DVDs I seem to accumulate. It’s also frustrating to take a gamble on a film you might not like, or feel the need to watch more than once. As if to prove why this was a good plan, my first film was Flashbacks of a Fool – which Paul Gorman mentioned recently because there’s a Janice Wainwright piece in it (although, strangely, it’s worn by Keeley Hawes in the modern section of the film…but hey-ho!). I had felt a desire to see it at the time, what glam-rock-loving person wouldn’t? But it didn’t have great reviews, and I just sort of forgot. As I so often do.

It’s stylish, no doubt about it. And well worth watching for this reason. Antony Price gear (in his Che Guevara days), a replica of the BryanGod’s lustworthy sparkly jacket and this most beautiful section where Ruth and Joe mime to If There Is Something. Her outfit here reminds me of why, every single time I look at the cover of that first Roxy album, I want a wardrobe full of pink and blue satin. And she’s pinched my mantra: “Think…Roxy girl”.

http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xbbvdm
Flashbacks of a Fool – If There Is Something

But the film really falls down on the very thin premise. There’s little or no real character development and most people seem to have just turned up on set, lines in their head and a lot of exposition to spout (poor Keeley gets the worst of this, as Joe’s sister, but handles it admirably). Emilia Fox is hilariously bad as an American, and as a drug dealer.

Basically, I didn’t want to come out of the Seventies section and then, when we did, I was wondering why the storyline had been so dull. Joe was a wannabe Glam Rocker, fancied a pretty girl, shagged the neighbour instead, ran away for 25 years (early Seventies plus 25 years equals late 1990s….so I haven’t got the foggiest why they were, apparently, setting it in 2008) and returns home, only to mooch around a bit looking moody. Yes, yes, Daniel Craig has built a career on that, but it’s not enough for this film. Is he really a changed man by the end? It’s a remarkable volte-face if so, and not really justified by anything we see or hear.

I didn’t feel particularly connected to any of the characters, and the locations were very peculiar. If you’re trying to connect to the nostalgia in your audience, why on earth set it in a location where very few people would have lived (I think it must be an Essex estuary….but who the hell knows?). Yet it was almost trying too hard at other points, tugging at the nostalgia strings, such as the whole ‘choose between Ferry and Bowie’ conversation and the artfully ‘placed’ posters of The Sweet (et al) in the background.

Top marks for costume design and music choices; everything else gets a B-. Must try harder. Go watch Velvet Goldmine. Although I don’t know why I’m surprised, given the hefty involvement of all those White Cube gallery-types. I know glam rock was all about the ‘image’, but this film just demonstrates how even the glam image and sound was full of soul. Modern art and ‘style’ gurus can only fantasize about such things. If you’re signed up to LoveFilm, definitely try it on for size. If nothing else, you can ogle the clothes and Daniel Craig.