Review
JAMIE EAST AT THE MOVIES
Liam Gallagher’s charm and wonderfully foul-mouthed quotes makes As It Was irresistible
AS biopics go, this is a ballsy move.
The rather brilliant Oasis documentary ‘Supersonic’ is barely a couple of years old and did a fantastic job of forensically pulling apart one of the most exciting bands Britain have spawned for a generation and putting it back together again.
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At it’s heart was the agitation generated by the Gallagher brothers.
Noel, forever painted as the musical genius and sensible one, without whom none of it would have happened - and younger Liam, the yobbish, witty knuckle-dragger - talentless, but with a voice to die for - without whom none of it would have happened.
That film rinsed the legacy pretty well - and one hill I wasn’t prepared to die on was one in which a film documenting a relatively average solo career would be so entertaining.
Starting with the demise of Oasis (and yet another version of events) we follow Liam through the fallout - seeing him completely lost, skint, divorced and at his lowest ebb - then watch as the people around him slowly improve, the chips fall off his shoulders and a humbled, middle-aged man looking for a second chance emerges.
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We get versions of events from the other brother, the mother, Bonehead, and various managers/partners - but lets be honest - we’re only here because we know what good value Liam is.
We’ve seen the quotes in magazines and heard the occasional outburst on radio - but they don;’t really tell the whole story.
He comes across as a genuinely funny, clever, utterly chaotic human being. The film is only 85 minutes long, but you’ll be exhausted.
There are many highlights and too many wonderfully foul-mouthed quotes to count - but seeing Liam ask David Beckham if “The Missus has kicked him out yet” or “And then I got an email from Chris Martin - I thought, what the f*** does he want?!” or him fooling around with his kids is a real treat.
As someone points out, the rift between the brothers is at the heart of everything Liam does - he’s clearly deeply hurt and misses Noel terribly - but don’t expect this to heal any rifts - he can be viciously caustic when he wants.
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MOST READ IN FILM
Whilst it’s a blatant promotional tool for his second album, is as biased as you would imagine (it also wisely keeps the actual music to a minimum - Oasis songs are conspicuous by their absence - wonder who blocked that decision) it wears its heart on its sleeve and makes the most of Britain’s funniest pop star.
Borderline parody? Possibly - but Liam’s charm makes this quite irresistible.
Available on demand from Friday too, so you can catch it at home this weekend. As you were.
As It Was (15)
★★★☆☆
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