TV & Film Review

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll

Feature Film | Mat Whitecross
By Mark Rifkin

Ian Dury isn’t just a Blockhead in Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll.

British punk Ian Dury, who had such cheeky hits as "Reasons to Be Cheerful, Part 3" and ‘Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick" with the Blockheads in the late 1970s, is revealed to be much more than a singer of novelty songs in Mat Whitecross's moving biopic, Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Andy Serkis gives a tour-de-force performance as Dury, who contracted polio as a child and spent his too-short life in a leg brace and walking with a cane. Whitecross parallels Dury's time spent in a children's hospital and his relationship with his burly father (Ray Winstone) with his own family troubles as an adult, cheating on his wife (Olivia Williams) with a young fan (Naomie Harris) and not exactly being the best father to his son, Baxter (Bill Milner). Serkis (Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) fully embodies the talented, yet troubled, Dury, singing all the songs himself to newly recorded backing tracks by the still-together Blockheads that give the tunes new life. The scenes of Serkis and the band onstage are absolutely sizzling, shot in beautifully saturated colors. While it takes a while to warm up to the bitter Dury's offstage persona, it all leads up to a surprising and powerful conclusion.

TAGS: 1970s, Alcohol Abuse, Biopic, British Punk Rock, Disabled Musicians, Drug Abuse, English Bandleaders, Fathers and Sons, Infidelity, London, Polio, Tribeca Film Festival,

FACTS: Released: May 05, 2010 (DJ Films); Runtime: 115 minutes; Cast: Andy Serkis, Bill Milner, Naomie Harris, Tom Hughes, Olivia Williams, Ray Winstone

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll Trailer