Katy Perry: Part of Me
2.5/4
Rated PG for Some Suggestive Content, Language, Thematic Elements and Brief Smoking
The documentary about pop sensation Katy Perry is not as good as it could be, but nowhere near as bad as you think. Katy is an interesting enough person to spend about an hour with, but unfortunately the movie is 93 minutes long. Things start to drag in the third quarter, but pick up again once it changes direction.
At first glance, this film seems little more than a fluff piece that you'd find on MTV or ET. Katy was a good girl who had lots of talent and grew up in a devoutly Christian home. She had a dream and worked hard to achieve it. Yadda yadda yadda. Like we haven't seen that before.
The film does do a few interesting things. For example, it shows how Katy was tossed around at Columbia Records because she was told to be like Avril Lavigne or Britney Spears. She was then taken by an executive over to Virgin Records. This stuff is pretty interesting because it goes into some (although not much) detail about how good artists can be snuffed out of careers because of egos and executives who don't know what they're doing.
It's not hard to see why Katy Perry is so popular. Her songs are infectious and it's hard not to start singing along to them. She is portrayed as a hard working musician who loves her fans and family. She also has the personality and presence to draw attention to her by simply walking into a room. She's likable and pretty. In other words, she's the perfect star. While undoubtedly some of this is whitewashed, it's clear that it doesn't descend to the level of hero worship.
After a while the film stars spinning its wheels. Concerts, fan meet and greets, backstage clips and trying to fit in time to see her husband Russell Brand...they're interesting at first, but the film runs out of material. The third act, however, changes the films direction in surprising ways.
With concerts nearly every night and constant travelling, Katy gets exhausted pretty fast. That, and she uses her rare moments of rest to see Russell means that has no time to recharge. It doesn't take long for this to affect her. At her biggest concert (in Brazil), we see her lying on a chair trying to get fifteen minutes of rest before going onstage. She breaks into tears and is desperately trying to put on a smile as the lift carries her up to the stage. This stuff is eye opening because we never really think about how much constant performances can take out of a person.
Also interesting is her relationship with Russell. While we hear about celebrity break ups frequently, we always think its just because of egos or publicity. In some cases, that may be the case, but we see first hand how hard it is to keep a marriage together when both parties have careers that take them to different parts of the world at the same time. This stuff works too.
Ultimately, the film is too long and shallow for anyone who is not a Katy Perry fan, but it is watchable. And the music is great too.
Rated PG for Some Suggestive Content, Language, Thematic Elements and Brief Smoking
The documentary about pop sensation Katy Perry is not as good as it could be, but nowhere near as bad as you think. Katy is an interesting enough person to spend about an hour with, but unfortunately the movie is 93 minutes long. Things start to drag in the third quarter, but pick up again once it changes direction.
At first glance, this film seems little more than a fluff piece that you'd find on MTV or ET. Katy was a good girl who had lots of talent and grew up in a devoutly Christian home. She had a dream and worked hard to achieve it. Yadda yadda yadda. Like we haven't seen that before.
The film does do a few interesting things. For example, it shows how Katy was tossed around at Columbia Records because she was told to be like Avril Lavigne or Britney Spears. She was then taken by an executive over to Virgin Records. This stuff is pretty interesting because it goes into some (although not much) detail about how good artists can be snuffed out of careers because of egos and executives who don't know what they're doing.
It's not hard to see why Katy Perry is so popular. Her songs are infectious and it's hard not to start singing along to them. She is portrayed as a hard working musician who loves her fans and family. She also has the personality and presence to draw attention to her by simply walking into a room. She's likable and pretty. In other words, she's the perfect star. While undoubtedly some of this is whitewashed, it's clear that it doesn't descend to the level of hero worship.
After a while the film stars spinning its wheels. Concerts, fan meet and greets, backstage clips and trying to fit in time to see her husband Russell Brand...they're interesting at first, but the film runs out of material. The third act, however, changes the films direction in surprising ways.
With concerts nearly every night and constant travelling, Katy gets exhausted pretty fast. That, and she uses her rare moments of rest to see Russell means that has no time to recharge. It doesn't take long for this to affect her. At her biggest concert (in Brazil), we see her lying on a chair trying to get fifteen minutes of rest before going onstage. She breaks into tears and is desperately trying to put on a smile as the lift carries her up to the stage. This stuff is eye opening because we never really think about how much constant performances can take out of a person.
Also interesting is her relationship with Russell. While we hear about celebrity break ups frequently, we always think its just because of egos or publicity. In some cases, that may be the case, but we see first hand how hard it is to keep a marriage together when both parties have careers that take them to different parts of the world at the same time. This stuff works too.
Ultimately, the film is too long and shallow for anyone who is not a Katy Perry fan, but it is watchable. And the music is great too.
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