High Praise for Andre Benjamin
I'm reading such terrific reviews of his performance.
Some critics have complained that Benjamin is more than 10 years older than Hendrix was during the events the film depicts, but that actually seems weirdly appropriate here. He does a great job capturing Hendrix's mumbling, mystic-in-training patter—the way his words flowed together like they're songs without music—but what comes across most strongly is the character's indifference to the trappings of rock 'n' roll. It's as if the older man is commenting on the younger man's situation, allowing Benjamin a chance to relive a bygone period in his own life.http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/andre-3000-channels-hendrix-finds-him self-in-jimi-all-1638574395But even in electrifying scenes like Jimi opening his show at London's Saville Theater by putting his unique spin on the title track of the just-released '"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" right in front of Paul and George, there's no doubt that Benjamin is the film's magnetic core. Benjamin's silky-voiced, dangerously volatile turn as Jimi is a star-spangled triumph.http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/jimi-all-is-by-my-side-2014 0925
All Is By My Side is graced with such a present, lived-in lead performance. André Benjamin completely disappears into the role. The OutKast co-frontman is currently 12 years older than Hendrix was at the time of his death, but the mismatch never rubs; few people on earth look so comfortable with a guitar in their hands. Benjamin bears an uncanny resemblance to Hendrix, but he never settles for mimicry. Taking his cues from the unformed characterization of Ridley’s script, Benjamin inhabits the legendary guitarist with a simplicity that undercuts Hendrix’s potentially suffocating importance.http://thedissolve.com/reviews/1097-jimi-all-is-by-my-side/
It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert
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