User reviews

Edgar Wright always does great work, and when it was announced that he would be at the helm of a Sparks documentary, I was ecstatic.

I was of course excited to see the movie, but more than that I was excited that a big name director would be exposing the world and some of my fellow Americans (hopefully) to Sparks.

The band is not easy to find, and it is absolutely criminal. I myself only discovered the band 2 or so years ago and fell in love immediately, listening to the then 24 studio albums over a course of about a month for hours a day. I implore you to do the same, I really don't think you'll regret it.

The documentary really was true to Sparks sensibilities too, as Edgar promised he would try to do. The artists were not the center of attention, but rather the art was the center of attention. The dedication to their craft, along with an immense amount of wit and talent is what has sustained them as a band for 50 years.

The two are just so easily lovable guys, and immense talents with a one of a kind sound. As a fan, it made me happy to see the two in the limelight where they should be, taking a quick break to reflect after 50 years of innovating in the field. Here's to 200 more Sparks albums!

At 2h 21m this is a long documentary but while some reviews I've seen say it's too long I thought it flew by and really enjoyed the whole film. I've never heard any of Sparks music but loved hearing their songs and learning about their 50 year history, it's amazing seeing who they've influenced and how they've grown and evolved. When it comes to criticisms I will say that after a while the documentary does begin to feel somewhat one note, always just talking heads telling us of how much they love the band and how they've been influenced followed by a bit of music, while this is disrupted sometimes by short animations it does feel very similar, there's also never really much criticism of the band, while I do love the music from what I've heard I'd still appreciate seeing differing views on the subject. To conclude The Sparks Brothers is an entertaining and interesting documentary with a few flaws that ends up as a high 7/10.

I've been a fan of Sparks for over 10 years now and just went I thought I knew everything there was to know about them, Edgar Wright beautifully illustrates their 5 decade career span. It's an excellent glimpse into their creative process with so much unseen footage and storytelling from Ron and Russell.

Great job to all involved.

Greetings again from the darkness. Over the past 5 decades, the number of bands that have broken up is, well, almost all of them. For two brothers to write songs and perform together over that span, and still be at it in their 70's is remarkable. Sparks is made up of Ron Mael and younger brother Russell. They've published 25 albums with 300 songs, and performed thousands of concerts. Somehow they still like each other, respect each other, and work well together. As unusual as their music is and as strange as their stage show can be, it seems only fitting that their cinematic profile would be directed by Edgar Wright, who is best known for SHAUN OF THE DEAD (2002) and BABY DRIVER (2017). This is his first documentary.

Mr. Wright establishes the necessary unconventional start by having Sparks perform the opening credits. Not a song to open the film, but rather they actually perform the opening credits. We are then introduced to Ron and Russell, and we get some childhood family photos and an explanation about how their artist father taking them to the movies would later influence their work. And other than learning that Ron has a massive snow globe collection, that's the end of the insight into their personal lives. Normally that would be a mistake, but there is nothing normal about Sparks.

Instead of personal profiles, director Wright opts for a chronological discography - a walk through the band's timeline of recordings. Each step is punctuated with insight from fellow musicians or celebrities, and clips of the band performing their music from each era. The interviews are filmed in black & white so that the color of the stage performances really pop on screen. Some of those interviewed include producer Todd Rundgren, Jane Wiedlin (The Go-Go's), Flea (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Pamela Des Barres (a musician and, umm, certain other skills), and other musicians who played with Sparks over the years.

Often thought of as a novelty act, Sparks music and shows are filled with humor, but are not a joke. The two brothers have stayed committed to the music and the performances. To cover an extended gap in their career, director Wright utilizes 6 years of "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve", but more impactful is finding out that they worked on the music every day during those 6 years. The Mael brothers define persistence. The brothers' desire to break into film music fizzled a couple of times due to Jacques Tati and Tim Burton, but they do appear in the 1977 thriller ROLLERCOASTER.

Songwriter Ron is the brother with the Hitler/Chaplin mustache, while singer Russell was the matinee idol in the early years. They are referred to as the "Best British group to come out of America", and their musical influence can be traced to many more popular bands. A collaboration with Franz Ferdinand pushed their creativity, but it's an outlandish 21 shows in a row, each featuring a different album performed live that may best define their love of music and performance (and stamina). So while Mr. Wright offers zip in regards to their personal lives, the abundance of live performance clips and the quite funny Sparks "Facts" over the closing credits make this a documentary worth watching (even with its 140 minute run time).

In theaters June 18, 2021.

This was superbly made, very funny, and surprisingly uplifting.

I've watched a lot of music documentaries that have interesting content but pretty boring presentation, and so to have one come along that's this entertaining and this well edited was a real treat.

Sparks have had an incredibly interesting history to the point where you could use stock standard documentary techniques and still make something watchable, but Wright's passion for this duo really shines through and makes for a documentary that will make any viewer see the weird, funny and captivating appeal of Sparks.

It makes me feel like I've got a lot of catching up to do, as I'd only listened to four Sparks albums before watching this, and there are at least several more covered here that I feel I should check out.

Only complaint I'd have is that it gets a little long winded near the end, with an epilogue that stretches on forever, with so many points where you think it's about to finish but doesn't. It's like the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ending but for documentaries.

Maybe Wright just didn't want to finish making this movie about a band he clearly loves, so for that I can't blame him too much.

This film is part of Hot Docs 2021. This is the kind of film that I would have loved to see on the big screen but glad to see be able to watch it via their streaming at home platform.

I had never heard of the band before but the documentary does a great job on going in deep on the band/music and so many great people interviewed talking about the band. I am definitely going to check out more of their music in the coming weeks.

'The Sparks Brothers (2021)' is a behemoth of a documentary that charts the entire, six-decades-spanning career of 'Sparks', an intermittently successful and always experimental band who've reinvented themselves more times than you could possibly imagine. Prior to hearing of this film, I'd never heard of the Mael brothers or their band; the only reason I (and I highly doubt I'm the only one) elected to watch the piece is because of its director, Edgar Wright. This directly relates to both the strength and weakness of the piece: its adamant desire to explore every single 'Sparks' album ever released. With a runtime just shy of two-and-a-half hours and a structure that basically repeats itself twenty-five times, it certainly isn't the most audience friendly of affairs. This would imply that its target audience is almost exclusively people already familiar with and fond of the band's work, but this actually isn't the case - at least, not as obviously as it may seem. See, the documentary doesn't really go into any depth when it comes to its eponymous brothers, their musical process or how they perceive the events the movie depicts. Instead, it essentially focuses on the reception of their music, conveyed primarily via an impressively eclectic array of talking heads who wax lyrical about the under-appreciated brilliance of 'Sparks'. Therefore, fans of the band will likely already be familiar with most of the stuff that the movie covers. At the same time, newbies like myself are likely to feel slightly overwhelmed at the amount of surface-level information that the flick throws at its viewers. After a certain point, it all starts to blend into itself and wash over you to an extent. Despite this issue, the movie is still quite a bit of fun. Sure, it starts to run out of steam at points, but it often shakes things up just enough to feel fresh - much like the Mael brothers themselves. Though its presentation is mostly rather standard (albeit impressive), it does have a cheeky sensibility to it and imbues many of its more expected elements with some subtle yet successful humour. The enthusiasm of everyone on screen is also evident and infectious. Sadly, I can't say that I recall more than a couple of 'Sparks' songs now and they play for pretty much the entire affair. This is likely a testament to the eclectic nature of their discography, which is consistently inconsistent in terms of style and tone. Still, the music is enjoyable, despite not being all that memorable. Ultimately, this documentary is slightly too long and almost too comprehensive for its own good, yet it has quite a bit of charm to it and remains entertaining pretty much for its entire duration. It's a solid effort. 7/10.

Sometimes fiction can be so good, that you wonder if it really happened, and you get the same strange feeling here.

So it is just as good as "Exit Through the Gift Shop", "I'm Still Here" or "This is Spinal Tap".

But as it rolls on, things just get more and more real, with SO much old footage, that you think that it would be a really hard job to fake all this. And it IS real, all of it.

Mr Wright obviously loves Sparks, and the Mael brothers obviously just loves to write and perform songs. So there is much love in this movie. And it just makes you happy.

I only have one Sparks LP in my collection. Which I before watching this had forgotten all abou. Have to do something about that.

I'm not too familiar with the pop-rock duo band Sparks, but I'm a fan of Edgar Wright and this documentary has received strong reviews. As a result, I jumped at the chance to see a virtual advance screening of this exuberantly quirky, playfully irreverent, and ambitious documentary that serves as a comprehensive profile of Sparks, whose career has spanned five decades. The film runs at a lengthy 2 hours and 20 minutes, but Wright's deep affinity for the band is apparent in every single minute of the film. As a result, the film never feels too long-even for those who are not committed fans-but rather a well-researched, thoughtfully idiosyncratic ride that viewers are invited to hop along on. What's fascinating here is that even viewers with no understanding of Sparks can not only be sucked in after watching the first 20 minutes or so of the film, but will also remain fascinated throughout as the analysis of the band gets deeper and deeper. Wright also makes it abundantly clear how inspirational Sparks has been for many other (even more) prominent musicians in the rock and pop genres.

The film discusses the two members of Sparks, Ron and Russell Mael. Opening with a discussion of their early history and influences (which included sports and genre films,) context about how this duo has gained such a significant cult following and cultural prominence is clearly absorbed by the viewer. Edgar Wright films, particularly "Hot Fuzz" and "Baby Driver," are usually very well-edited due to Wright's stylistic editing style. While the editing process is much different in a documentary than a narrative film, Wright still edits the film to perfection. The juxtaposition between music videos, concert footage, interviews, and other relevant context pertaining to Sparks is fast yet incredibly impactful on the viewer throughout. This editing clearly contributes to the ebb and flow of the film, which Wright should be commended for. The unique combination of interviewees represented in the film (ranging from the Maels themselves to die-hard fans and many others) come together to make the film's craft feel even more holistic. My only main criticism of the film is that the second act is not as well-structured or interesting as the first act (which is more contextual) or the third act (which is more specifically/directly focused on Sparks' music.) Other than that key structural flaw, I found this documentary to be a uniquely informative viewing experience. 7.5/10.

"How can a band be successful, underrated, hugely influential, and overlooked all at the same time?" Edgar Wright (director)

Although the cult art-pop band Sparks has been playing its idiosyncratic music for fifty years, you may never have heard about the two brothers or their music. Be prepared to remember them forever after seeing Edgar Wright's loving and comprehensive documentary covering their zany years of performance.

The two boys, Ron and Russ Mael, were born in California with the creative influence of the Beach Boys but a definite affinity for Brit bad boys like the Beatles and The Stones and touches of Queen. In fact, Ron and Russell Mael may have been a major influence on British synthpop.

Wright skillfully shows their emerging theatrics of Ron's culturally-sharp lyrics and Russell's stagey falsetto gyrations evocative of Mick and Freddie. They have their career careening from high on the charts to being absent from them, but never stopping the two from inventing themselves over and over again.

If you don't believe me, listen to persuasive talking heads who know what they're talking about, like Duran Duran, Weird Al Yankovic, Patton Oswalt, Sonic Youth, et al. However, just listen to their sometimes-inscrutable lyrics and watch Russell gyrate around the implacable Ron, and you will experience music in all its forms, wild and expressive.

As Ringo was alleged to say while watching Top of the Pops, "Marc Bolan is on the tele playing a song with Adolph Hitler" (Ron wore a Hitler-like stache much of the time). In the course of their half century, they went from glam-rock to orchestral art-pop to their take on Sgt Pepper and everything in between. It's exhausting just to try to catalogue their phases.

In Theaters.

Ron and Russell Mael are Californian brothers who created the longtime eccentric band, Sparks. They have made 25 albums with differing loyal fans over the years. I have no idea who these guys are. This may as well be a mockumentary. With all the old footage, it's obvious that they are real. I just wish for one trans Atlantic hit that I can grab onto. They seem to be bigger in Britain. That probably explains it. It's part of the pop culture that I missed back in the day. They also seem to be big in L. A. and Germany for awhile. This is nostalgic by association. I didn't actually listen to them, but they influence so many others that means so much to me. Part of the issue may be their satirical sensibilities and that they're always changing their sound. It does allow for an interesting retrospective in that these guys are so unusual.

I could not have been more excited about this documentary.

• An avant garde indie band that I somehow had never heard of?

• A slew of comedians and musicians I love?

• AND it's being made by Edgar Wright (who proved he can handle music-based movies with Scott Pilgrim)???

Well this must be THE perfect movie for me.

Wrong. Oh I was so wrong.

This movie has two fatal flaws.

One, it's less of a documentary and more of a discography.

The entirety (and I mean entirety) of the film revolves around a deep, but succinct breakdown of each and every album Sparks recorded.

Which would be fine if it was a band with a small catalog or a band you already know and love. (Say for example if this was about Daft Punk, it would have been THE perfect format)

But with a band that has made 25 studio albums... After album 14 the slog really sets in. And as each segment progressess, album after album, you really lose perspective. You don't have time to enjoy the music, or soak in the context, and even worse, any charm the band has is overshadowed by a count of exactly how many more albums you have left to sit through.

Two (and perhaps most importantly) is that there really is no narrative structure in Edgar Wright's telling of the bands story.

My guess going in was that it was going to be pretty standard for a documentary: Here's a band you've never heard of. Here's why they are great. Here's why they never made it big. And here's them overcoming an obstacle to come out on top.

Nope.

It's just a chronological recount of every album with minor setbacks and obstacles that are uncovered and resolved with the 5 minute arc, if not in the same sentence.

Those big questions aren't ever really addressed.

As time progresses in this almost 2.5 hour opus, the celebrity interviews go from lip-service, to downright annoying as they are a non-stop barrage of "Sparks is so cool. You should love Sparks. I love Sparks. It's a shame Sparks aren't famous. Why aren't Sparks more famous? Oh well you should love Sparks. Sparks is so cool. I love Sparks"

It's clear that Wright is a huge fan. Even a geek for the band. And his child-like adoration comes off as sweet. But his overwhelming devotion to the subject only holds him back as a story teller and (once again) ruins the Sparks brothers "big moment".

Now this is not to say Sparks isn't worth a listen. I have been rocking them on my streaming service ever since I saw the movie, and if they came to town I would definitely grab tickets.

But good lord save 140 minutes of your life and skip this drudge of a movie.

Never heard of Sparks before seeing this film, but I don't pay much attention to pop music. They have had a musical career of about 50 years, full of smart and humorous lyrics, framed by great music, all of it written by the two of them. They are two brothers who get along and love what they are doing. Who could ask for more?

I went to see this knowing only their early catalogue. It didn't matter whether you know their music or not. This is a very entertaining and enjoyable film. If you like music, art and cinema, then this is your type of film.

"All pop music is rearranged Sparks. And that's the truth."

The Sparks Brothers is a musical odyssey through five weird and wonderful decades with Ron and Russell Mael celebrating the inspiring legacy of Sparks. I had no idea who Sparks were going in. I knew by the end of the documentary I would have some reason to care about them, but it's hard watching a documentary about something you don't have much interest in- especially if it's about a person or people. Not that I didn't want to see this, but if I had no intentions to seek out this band before, I think it would be harder to get me to watch it. The one thing that actually got me to watch this is the fact that it was at Sundance earlier this year, and Edgar Wright was in the directors chair for this. Edgar Wright has yet to make a movie that is just decent. Everything he makes is fun and full of energy, and his first documentary is no exception. The Sparks Brothers is such a blast. It's the ultimate crowd pleasing music doc. Wright manages to incorporate his distinct style with every scene. He and Sparks were born to collaborate together. What we learn about the Sparks brothers is exactly what you'd want to know knowing Wright's previous films. They are a strange group and have a mysterious sort of quality. Watching their story unravel is just good fun.

The way the documentary is setup is sort of different from the rest. As usual, there's interviews and fun animations throughout like most. What's strange is how everything progresses. Usually we get stories of people trying to make it big, but they face challenges and defeats that make them grow as a group. The Sparks Brothers just focuses on their success. Sometimes things didn't always work out, but there's always a comeback and those defeats are still celebrated today. The film is always on a high and soars all the way through. I think the runtime could've been cut down a bit. With it running close to two and a half hours, it's pretty long for a doc. It never feels slow and the runtime doesn't feel long at all. But by the end, I looked at the clock surprised at the length. I think it's a bold move to make it this long and cover every album and a surplus of their songs. The Sparks Brothers is probably the most fun you'll have with any documentary. I left extremely glad to know just about everything there is to know about each Sparks album and how it all came to be. Also, you'll probably catch a few songs every now and then that you didn't realize was by them. If you get the chance to see this, I would highly recommend!

I was very curious how Edgar Wright would handle the documentary format. Turns out, with just as much style and creativity as all his other movies. Despite the long-ish run time and the obscure subject matter, this is a wonderfully engrossing documentary. But more than that, it's a great underdog story that makes you want to cheer at the end. Rarely am I compelled to watch credits until house lights came up at which point I clapped out loud. After 50 years in music business, Sparks finally get their due. So often docs celebrating artists happens after they're dead, but Sparks is still here doing their thing which makes it all that much more enjoyable. Brimming with music, humor and creative visuals, this is a fantastic movie!

A rather by-the-numbers talking heads doc on cult classic band Sparks. Expect an endless parade of old band members, producers, fans-come-stalkers and celebrities with no discernable connection to the subject, because that's what you'll get: mixed up with music videos, archive of the band, generic 70s/80s stock footage, and about 3 minutes of animation.

It's a TV doc, basically, and a 2 hour one at that, so is therefore perfectly watchable while never moving beyond:

Look at this thing or this person, isn't it cool.

Talking head: "yeah this thing was really cool, all the guys thought it was cool" Talking head 2: "ah yeah, what a cool thing! It reminds me of a moment I had." Now look at this other thing that is also cool.

Talking head 26: "woah!"

Basically it's a puff-piece that looks like it was filmed in 3 days. There is no conflict, nothing happens, there is no "present" in the film to form a narrative around. The conflict is ostensibly that the brothers who claim not to care about fame are not as famous as they should be. They're famous, just not famous enough, because they influenced everybody. (Don't talk about the Bowie shaped hole! Don't talk about all the other holes, either!) This doesn't really fly, so the film kind of wetly flops between the band's many albums. Nothing that bad happens to them: in the most dramatic moment of the film (a drummer we never see again cries to the camera), Sparks go a few years without making an album.

We only begin to learn about the Sparks Brothers in the closing few minutes, and what we see raises questions I would have like answered.

These guys don't really have friends, right? At one point a "half-girlfriend" from the 70s is mentioned, Russell still seems a bit hung up on it. They're obsessive workaholics, or at least Ron is, I'm not sure what Russell does sitting in a studio all day if he's neither writing the music nor the lyrics. Ron who "definitely isn't gay" has moved from Charlie Chaplin to John Waters. Russell's wig looks prepostorous. And what about the film they wrote (Annette: now out, apparently "pretty good")? We heard more about films they tried to make that never came out.

But it's still Sparks, you know, so it's at the very least mildly entertaining with a few sparks (!) of genius. Something one is expected to like a lot but would rather have in small doses.

Final thought: the film poster is the wrong way round. Ron (who writes the music) uses his once-prettier, more sociable brother as a "face."

Well, as a huge Sparks fan, I loved this film...but when I started reading some of the negative reviews here, (5 stars or lower), I have to admit, the film had its flaws.

The positives are that so many people from Sparks' long past participated. The brothers seemed very honest and forthcoming about their career. Lots of wisecracks, but Ron's witty sarcasm did not dominate the entire time, and he was very open and serious about their career.

The negatives have been covered in other reviews...there is a LOT of "They released their next album. It didn't sell. They went to work on a new album...." I love when stories are told in chronological order, but this film desperately needed breaks in the timeline to mix it up. Also, I don't think they got into as much detail as they should have concerning the many, many (many) times Ron and Russ fired band members, got new session players, fired them, hired new folks, etc. WHY??

Ron showed a smidgen of regret for sacking the British band after the 2nd album, but come on. They sacked band member after band member over the years, and nothing was covered.

A remarkable story but at least an hour too long.

And then they made another record that wouldn't sell. And then they made another one. And another one. And . . . . .

I gave up about 1986. It was like Groundhog Day, only with a band.

Edgar Wright has done it again, with an always-entertaining, ambitious, exciting, energized and stylized documentary about a band that's nothing short of an unbelievable spectacle. An absolute blast! How could you not love it with two brilliant leads who bring so much fun to it all! The Sparks Brothers, both the brothers and the movie, are sights to behold. Will definitely be listening to Sparks for a while now!

This is the much hyped Sparks documentary by Edgar Wright who is known for the Cornetto Trilogy. Edgar is a self professed fan of the band, who to the majority are equally famous for the track This Town Aint Big Enough and the Hitler moustache/evil stare of one of the band members.

In terms of music docs it starts off pretty standard with a background of the brothers family life, school and early career. Where this doc deviates however is the fact that this attempts to cover every one of the bands twenty plus album releases. Despite being a very lengthy doc it doesn't really cover any of the music in any depth.

I came away from this doc not really knowing any of the tracks covered during the running time. So while it may be entertaining for fans to hear snippets of the tracks, there is nothing really here for those who don't already know the music. This doc may not produce more Sparks fans.

While its not a spoiler to mention that Sparks played a series of concerts where they played in sequence their entire catalogue, it makes me wonder if the reason every album release was mentioned was the reason the doc also covered every release?

Sparks come across as highly talented and with the highest levels of artistic integrity possible, they made the music they wanted regardless of fan service. Of course a band with this approach will have fairly inconsistent levels of commercial success, one result of this is an ever changing band line up, a bit like The Fall. However unlike The Fall these ex band members reflect positively of their experience playing with Sparks.

This is an entertaining journey however there is probably a 90 min tighter edit or even another type of Sparks doc out there. Too many interesting stories are simply revealed and then your onto the next thing. Too much is simply crammed in. There is probably a full length doc about their marathon concert run that could be produced?

This is maybe only for Sparks die hards or for music fans with a short attention span. This doc barely scratches the surface of the music and the brothers remain an enigma......

This film had so much going for it but dragged itself aimlessly and uninsightfully across the rocks, overselling every 'joke' and every detail till they felt flat and uninspired.

If you have to spell out how clever something is, you're either telling it badly or it wasn't that clever.

The guys are undoubtedly clever, funny and talented, but this telling of their story isn't.

Appropriating the brilliant Brothers McLeod animation style from their classic Bowie, Eno and Visconti clip seemed forced and unoriginal. Ie it had already been done wonderfully for another artist, and highlighted how Sparks never got asked about what influenced them much at all. They're original, everyone else follows them? Um, Bowie???

For all the 'getting musical friends of Eager Wrights to spout lyrically about the utter importance and influence of Sparks' we don't see a lot of falsetto singing glamming it up from the influencees. It came across as a puff piece and glib lip service. Sparks could just be what they are, an original diamond that maintained it's own course but instead we're sold a story that Wright wanted to tell.

Some bits felt awkwardly staged. The ending where the guys roll off fake facts about themselves for 'comic' effect felt at odds with the identity and character of them, as did the whispering to camera the "I'm the important part of Sparks, he's just the keyboardist/singer" bit. It reeked of Wright saying 'hey read this, it'll be hilarious', and then neglecting to leave it on the cutting room floor when it obviously showed itself as a BAD idea. That's one of the main problems here. Over 2 hours of length, and a lack of filtering.

This happened a few times through the film and really eroded the honesty of the project. I sincerely wanted to just enjoy the Brothers for who they were and hear their actual story, not this manipulated A-lister director's take on it.

It's great that he likes them enough to make a film about them, but is it really about them or him?

Not everything they did was genius and that's absolutely fine in a career this long. Those 80s albums and styles were dull. The ex drummer shedding tears over their 6 year dry spell was just bizarre, can't they have writers block or lose their way? Is it not ok to be off some times? Cos they most certainly came back from it. That would count as character development, a journey, a destination. You know,..... what this film lacked.

What about their early family life that made them who they are. They were ok to talk about it and the film is dedicated to their parents, but apparently it wasn't interesting enough to dig into. What made them who they are? We won't find out from this one and only shot at looking into the group.

This could have been so much better. This should have been so much better. Half ar$ed.

Just beautiful from start to finish 🙂may have to watch it again and again.

Very rare to watch a documentary that is funny, bittersweet, informative and inspiring. I have been a fan of Sparks since I first saw them on the BBC playing This town... What is surprising is the sheer output that they have produced, and how they have never compromised their integrity.

A wonderful film, and I am looking forward to the release of the Blu Ray.