Thanks for the memories!

Sick Product of a Sick System

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This is a movie that attempts to do nothing except exploit the Hendrix legend to make some money. It is a Walt Disney version of his life that tries to say as little as possible and offend as few as possible.Jimi Hendrix was a very complex man who was a brilliant musician. I had the pleasure of seeing him perform in 1967. He was the only person I ever saw who could play lead guitar while singing simultaneously. Having said that, this movie I think is geared for people who were too young to remember him during his life. If you are old enough to remember Jimi Hendrix then this movie will have little appeal. A lot of ground is covered, but so very little time is spent on events that they become blurred and almost irrelevant. During the recording of "Electric Ladyland", one of the greatest rock albums ever by the way, the bassist becomes frustrated as accuses Jimi of treating him and the drummer as if they were groupies. Perhaps there was truth in that, but there was nothing in the film leading up to that scene that would have given evidence that this was so. This is but one example of the rush to cover too much ground.All in all, this film is a cheap exploitation of Hendrix that might be useful as a history lesson for people under 40. But is is a fake history, so buyer beware.

What happens when a production team has no money? They make something like 'hendrix'.There is no quality in this movie, its a cheap knockoff designed to get viewers merely because 'hendrix' is in the titled. It's a pretty good example of bait and switch. And the greatest travesty is the lack of hendrix material in the movie, anything requiring additional royalties was off limits. So you get cheap imitations of hendrix songs, oh but none that he actually wrote, just the covers. A hendrix movie without 'purple haze', 'foxy lady', 'all along the watchtower', ...', etc.The only saving grace is the lead. He does a great job in capturing the sound and mannerisms of hendrix, right down to that nervous laugh. It's too bad he is acting in a pool of low-cost sh1t.

Wood Harris portrays Jimi with respect and determination, but doesn't quite PORTRAY him. Then again, how many actors could? I don't think Mr. Harris had ever experienced LSD when he attempted to deliver Jimi's oratory at Monterey; his effort was...well, kinda silly. Some of the other dialogue is also clumsy but this was a demanding role. I'm aware of some Hendrix career history and inclined to believe that the movie is basically accurate throughout (as with Gotti HBO movie).Although the music isn't too bad, I have to wonder why they didn't use actual Hendrix tracks? And why does the guy who plays the role of Little Richard look nothing like him? Was Michael Jeffrey really such an a-----e in real life? The real Chas Chandler seems like an unsympathetic and driven producer on the Electric Ladyland DVD...yet he and Jimi were said to be a great music partnership. Billy Zane does a fine job as Michael Jeffrey I guess, considering that I really don't know what he was actually like! Oh well.

MammaMoon and I are going to buy this film regardless of the reviews we have read. We saw it and loved it, we are Jimi Hendrix fans. We feel all the acting was well done, the sound track awesome--we highly recommend this film to be included with anyones film collection on the history of the 60's Culture and those wonderful creative and inspiring years.