Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (Fifty Shades of Grey (2015); Nowhere Boy (2009)) and starring Marisa Abela (Rogue Agent (2022); Barbie (2023); Industry (TV series, 2020-2022)), Eddie Marsan (The World's End (2013); Snow White and the Huntsman (2012); Murder on the Orient Express (2017)), Jack O'Connell ('71 (2014); Ferrari (2023); Starred Up (2013)) and Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread (2017); Another Year (2010); Mrs Harris Goes to Paris (2022)).
Biography; 122 mins; 12+
This biopic of the musical icon Amy Winehouse (Marisa Abela), charting her rise to success and her relationship with Blake (Jack O'Connell) which evolved into one described as being co-dependent. It shows how they met, their loving yet turbulent relationship, as well as their marriage and, later, his imprisonment for an assault on a bartender.
But it starts off showing her as a late teenager within her close Jewish family, particularly her close relationship with both her father Mitch (Eddie Marsan), a taxi driver, and her grandmother Cynthia (Lesley Manville). Her parents had separated but, by this stage, Amy was living away from home with a flat-mate. Her musical talents were very much in evidence even at this stage, with references to her leaving school early and focussing on listening to jazz and writing her own music and singing.
The story is partly set in the streets in and around Camden in London, and the clubs she frequented and where she sang, as well as in New York City after she had signed for a music label and her career was being managed. But she was free-spirited and did not want to be tied down by convention, rather preferring to live live to the full and write sings based on her experiences.
It portrayed her struggles, including her dependence on alcohol and her introduction to drugs, as well as issues relating to addition, culminating is her volunteering to enter rehab. By that stage, she was being hounded by the paparazzi whenever she ventured outside her home.
With a wonderful soundtrack with many of her top hits, including "Back to Black", "Valerie" and "Rehab".
Currently being screened in Luxembourg at Kinepolis and CiNextDoor.
