STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All Costs
Documentary maker Brian Hill follows multi-millionaire,multi-successful pop star Robbie Williams around on his 2001 World Tour.Beginning in Stockholm,Sweden,Robbie delivers an extremely intimate account of his life to the camera,as he resists the urge to re-start alcohol and cocaine addictions and discusses the general highs and lows of his celebrity lifestyle.
The greatest irony of the whole thing is that Robbie Williams ever became originally known for being a singer in manufactured pop band Take That,because as he talks to the camera,we learn he has far more depth and a much greater personality than any nonchalant drone that could fill the shoes of any old person dragged out to join such a group.There is an alarming contrast in his personality.There is one side that seems to lap up the fame and adulation he receives (not to mention certain benefits that come with it!) but another that would genuinely prefer to be private and even secreted from others.There is a certain unbalanced and weird nature to his persona,which separates him from others.He is such an complex personality that it appears there were pieces that had to be cut from the documentary and shown as bonus footage,as though the producers were aware that there were just too many layers to Robbie but to cram them all in might make their project appear a trifle self indulgent.Another thing we learn of is the inner demons he appears to be battling.These may have been intensified and blown-out-of-proportion by his drink and drug problems,but they certainly add depth and make an already interesting character even more of an enigma.
The documentary flows along smoothly.It's never wavey or unfocused,and it manages to hold your attention and never get you bored all the way through to the end.It somehow all manages to come together perfectly and be a very fine,if just a few steps off brilliant,examination of a troubled but enlivened soul.****
