Review of Inside The Smiths

Introduction

Sometime in the early 80`s when I wasn`t paying attention, some bloke started prancing about on Top of the Pops with daffodils hanging out of his back pocket. The Smiths had arrived. Lauded by some as one of the best bands ever, The Smiths became a student`s wet dream with Morrissey`s acerbic lyrics and Marr`s sometimes sublime guitar work. Behind it though, were the rhythm section of Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce. As with many bands, there are those who get the limelight and those who either shun it or get ignored.

Here the two get to tell their story of The Smiths.

Video

Picture`s fine.

One thing I can`t quite reconcile though is the choice of cover art, as life in post-war Manchester is referenced nowhere within this documentary. Maybe it looked reminiscent of the band…

Audio

Stereo soundtrack with no material by The Smiths in it at all, presumably due to licencing fees. The nearest you get to it, aside from some generic indie jangly guitar tunes from Craig Gannon, is Rourke playing the bass in his attic.

Features

Nice little book with liner notes from Rourke and Joyce, plus filmmakers Mark Standley and Stephen Petricco.

More extras than you can shake a stick at, mostly extra interview segments including a piece on Craig Gannon, Aztec Camera guitarist who ended up in The Smiths for a bit. Total running time for all the extra bits is approx. 51 minutes. Not sure why most of this couldn`t have ended up in the main feature in the first place, but still…

Conclusion

Anyone who`s read more than a couple of my reviews can probably guess that The Smiths aren`t exactly my cup of tea. I never got them at the time and still don`t understand why Morrissey is hailed as a poet and artistic genius, I also found it really amusing that he was considering entering the Eurovision last year. Students everywhere will probably hate me, as well as Mr McLean no doubt, but honestly, the only song I ever liked is How Soon Is Now? and I didn`t even get into that until I heard it as the theme tune to Charmed. Obviously the original is better, but it took me a while to even warm to it.

This is not a bad film, but it could have been better. Despite him being a fan, Mark Standley is like the indie version of Paul Morley. Morley may have been able to get away with complete guff on the ZTT record sleeves of Frankie and Propaganda, but he tends to prevaricate an awful lot and spout complete pretentious rubbish. And so does Standley. Enthusiastic he may be as a fan, but he is just too over the top wandering around cemeteries in his long black coat and trying to impart pearls of wisdom on how The Smiths are the greatest band ever.

Rourke and Joyce come across as a likeable pair with an interesting story, just a shame it`s without the two main players. Joyce is quite open about the drug problems that lead to his dismissal and the two seem to genuinely like each. You also get the feeling that both would jump straight back on the merry-go-round again if they got the chance. Not much hope of that though I would think.

Overall it`s an interesting attempt to show the story from the perspective of the two at the back. I found it to be ok but I would hazard a guess that this probably won`t sate the appetite of devout fans of The Smiths.