dbborroughs Follow up to That'll Be the Day has Jimmy Maclaine starting a band call the Stray Cats, rising to international success and then having it all go away. I originally saw this on HBO back in the late 1970's early 1980's and it hung with me ever since. Until I saw the film again I couldn't tell you anything about the film other than it had to do with a reclusive rock star. Seeing it again I find that its a good film but I'm at a loss to explain why I recall seeing it. A much better film than the one that preceded it, here was a story that I could relate to simple because the story of a band that comes together and breaks up is one I could relate to. I find that even the drama that carries over from the first film plays better here and less like a soap opera.(Though now having seen the first film I find that having the back story does help clarify somethings). I like the film and I'm glad that some 25 years on I got to see it again. I don't know if I need to see it again but it is a neat little time capsule and reflection of the music scene at a specific time and place (and less specific since the way groups and their leaders come together and break apart will always happen in ways close to this) Worth a look.

jc-osms For me, a disappointing sequel to the successful, breezy "That'll Be The Day" as the bright young scallywag Jim MacLaine (David Essex) somewhat improbably tries his luck in the rock industry only to crash and burn by the end having lived the rock dream to the bitter end, along the way cramming into the narrative as many rock clichés as you can think of. So we get the inevitable "musical differences" which cause him to leave his band The Stray Cats, encounters with groupies, strained relationships with the estranged wife and son he left behind, his rise to solo mega-stardom and eventual retreat to a drug-filled existence leading to the inevitable downbeat conclusion. Rock fans might derive fun from the peripheral characters' purely coincidental resemblance to any living person, as the legend goes, with a foreign intellectual interfering girlfriend (Yoko Ono?), old-style matey, but sexually ambivalent manager (Brian Epstein?) and loudmouth, money-obsessed American manager (Allan Klein), as well as Essex's character's own career path which seems to echo Jim Morrison of the Doors (who also died in seclusion in continental Europe), but the situations are too conventional and predictable to really engage. On the acting front, Essex's limitations are exposed and he fails to draw in the viewer, unlike his lighter playing in "That'll Be The Day", although more experienced actors like Adam Faith and Larry Hagman get more to chew on in their roles. Another weak point is the original music, (a failing also of the much later "Dreamgirls") which especially when set against contemporary classic tracks by The Who, Kinks and Mamas and Papas, to name but a few, is sorely lacking in catchiness and leaves you wondering just how The Stray Cats actually got to the top of the charts. This is slightly surprising given that the musical director here is the talented Dave Edmunds, whose own solo career abounds in recreations of mid-60's pop and rock. Ironically, trivia-fans, Edmunds in the 80's successfully produced the popular rockabilly band The Stray Cats, best known for "Runaway Boys" and "Stray Cat Strut"! In the end an overlong, over-pretentious movie and evidence if it was needed, that the best way to portray rock star excess is with parody, e.g. "The Rutles" and of course "This is Spinal Tap".

David198 I managed to catch this on TV again recently, having not seen it for many years.Rather surprisingly it doesn't look particularly dated, and the storyline still packs a punch. Both David Essex and Adam Faith are good in their roles, and there's never a dull moment on screen. But whatever happened to Ines des Longchamps who played Jim's girlfriend? (Not much, according to the IMDb!)Two very big flaws however stand out on this viewing.Firstly, the songs which apparently sold millions for Jim Maclaine and the Stray Cats just aren't very good or very memorable. The story is obviously based on the Beatles' rise to fame, and for them as well as for every other pop group of the day, it wasn't just a pretty face but catchy, hummable songs that took them to the heights. Jim's are either covers or very weak.And as someone has already mentioned, the crowds at the 'Pollwinners concert' clearly weren't 1960s young people. Obviously the filmmakers just rounded up a crowd when they made the film in 1974 and got them to come and see David Essex. Presumably it would have been far too expensive to dress them in the fashions of a decade before.These two flaws apart, it's a good film, if not your standard popcorn-munching Saturday night fare.

englishman48 A great follow-up to "That'll Be The Day", the film that leads into this movie. I highly recommend this film to all fans of rock culture and David Essex. He proves he was not only a good singer, but a fairly accomplished actor as well. I have only seen this film about 30 times myself, but repeated viewings are recommended. The film is hard to find, but if you do, don't hesitate - just enjoy!