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score 8/10
Listening to Amy's music, it's easy to forget just how young she was. At a time when Gwen Stefani and Kelly Clarkson were topping the charts, her voice seemed to be broadcast to us from a generation that our parents or grandparents might have recognized.
But Amy was just a kid before fame was thrust upon her and had its way with her. The movie begins in the year 2001, when she was just 17 and her manager, Nick Shymansky, was 19.
Over the next decade, we watch fame consume someone who clearly never wanted it and does not have the maturity or emotional support to cope with it.
Under the weight of rapidly increasing attention and expectations, early red flags of her substance abuse and eating disorders go unnoticed. By the time they become life-threatening, celebrity culture completes its cycle of creation and destruction, happy to make lazy quips about her downward spiral playing out on a public stage.
Her impending and premature death loom over this entire film. About an hour in, each new scene feels like it could be the conclusion to this heartbreaking biography. In a small way, it captures the anxiety of having a loved one in recovery and never knowing when you're going to get that call.
The fact that there is no happy ending to this story makes it a difficult movie to watch, but you also get immersed in what a rare personality and talent she really was. I did not realize how much I had missed her.
JosiahSilas 13 May 2018
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw4163271/ |
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21-11-2019 13:15:25
