I wish I had the time to watch again The Doors (biopic) and read again No One Here Gets Out Alive (biography of The Doors). I could add to this review a comparison of these other treatments of the lives of Jim Morrison and the other Doors. But here’s my stand-alone review of When You’re Strange and I should reveal right off the bat that I have always been a huge Doors fan. So my enjoyment of When You’re Strange was definitely enhanced by my great love of the band.
Let me back up. The writer-director, Tom DiCillo, previously gave us two great (well one great and one very good) movies with Living in Oblivion and Box of Moonlight. Living in Oblivion was of course his masterpiece and you should see it right away if you haven’t already. Box of Moonlight is an early Sam Rockwell film, starring John Turturro as well. And here with this Doors documentary, DiCillo does an excellent job of answering the most interesting questions about Jim and the other band members, and balancing performance footage quite beautifully with clips from the movie Jim shot when he was a film student, and Johnny Depp‘s narration. Depp has taken some flack from the critics for being too flat in his delivery, but it worked for me. The focus is definitely on Jim, but others in the group also get some attention: who knew that it was Robbie Krieger who penned “Light My Fire” after playing guitar for only six months?
So When You’re Strange is a chronicle of the band from its inception to its dissolution. It’s well made and engaging, especially for a fan. I’m not sure if a non-fan or someone not familiar with the music would love it as much as I did, so I’ll be interested to hear viewer feedback. And see this movie as soon as possible because, as the song goes, “The future’s uncertain—the end is always near.” – [DVD]
Documentary/Music
Rated R